HC Deb 10 July 1986 vol 101 cc271-4W
Mr. Gordon Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what steps he is taking to dispose of single payment claims within 14 days of their submission.

Mr. Major

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him on 8 July. Regulations provide that, so far as practicable,

Office 1984 1986
Parkhead 12,780 13,298
Partick 6,625 7,603
Provan 14,580 15,200
Queens Park 3,503 —
Rutherglen 13,216 14,073
Southside 13,342 14,004
Springburn 9,814 10,842
Totals 129,910 141,350

Note: Queens Park AO closed in May 1985.

claims should be decided within 14 days of their reference to an adjudication officer. The Chief Adjudication Officer's guidance is that, "it may not be 'practicable' where … a large number of claims are received in a short time span". (Paragraph 13052 of the S Manual, a copy of which is in the Library)

Mr. Gordon Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will provide additional resources for staffing to process single payment claims.

Mr. Major

I refer the hon. Member to the reply from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to my hon. Friend the Member for Nuneaton on 7 March at column 322, in which he announced a major improvement to DHSS Social Security manpower. Over 5,000 staff have been made available in addition to the normal complement. This addition allows for increased single payment activity as well as for other matters. Additional staff are also being deployed in some areas, including in Scotland, for non-benefit related work.

Mr. Gordon Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will estimate what proportion of claimants have outstanding claims for single payments in (a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom.

Mr. Major

The routine count* of the number of people receiving supplementary benefit made on 6 May 1986, and the special count of single payment work made in Scotland on 2 July to which I referred in my reply to the hon.

Statistical Bulletin No. 1/84
Title: NHS hospital activity statistics England 1972–82.
Published: April 1984
Subject matter: Analysis by sector, of in-patient cases, day cases, out-patient and accident and emergency services, giving trends in numbers of cases, bed availability, duration of stay and other indicators over the decade.
Number of Pages: 21
Number distributed free of charge to government and NHS users: 350 (approximately)
So far sold at £1: 91
Statistical Bulletin No. 2/84
Title: NHS hospital activity statistics England 1973–83.
Published: November 1984
Subject matter: Analysis by sector of in-patient cases, day cases, out patient and accident and emergency services, giving trends in numbers cases, bed availability, duration of stay and other indicators over the decade.
Number of Pages: 25
Number distributed free of charge to government and NHS users: 300 (approximately)
So far sold at £1: 132
Statistical Bulletin No. 1/85
Title: Mental illness hospitals and units in England: Results from the Mental Health Enquiry 1983.
Published: March 1985
Subject matter: For mental illness hospitals and units, analyses of admissions, discharges and resident patients. Comparisons of 1983 figures with those for earlier years from 1973 onwards.
Number of Pages: 13
Number distributed free of charge to government and NHS users: 200 (approximately)
So far sold at £1: 165
Statistical Bulletin No. 2/85
Title: Mental handicap hospitals and units in England: Results from the Mental Health Enquiry 1983.
Published: March 1985
Subject matter: For NHS mental handicap hospitals and units, analyses of admissions, discharges and resident patients. Comparisons of 1983 figures with those for earlier years from 1973 onwards.
Number of Pages: 9
Number distributed free of charge to government and NHS users: to 300 (approximately

Member on 7 July at column 69, suggest that 16 per cent. of claimants in Scotland had outstanding claims for single payments on the latter date. Similar information for the United Kingdom is not available.

* 100 per cent. count of cases in action.

Mr. Gordon Brown

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many single payment claims are outstanding in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Mr. Major

I regret that the information in respect of these areas is not available. However, claims for single payments are determined as soon as possible after all the information required has been collected; urgent claims are given priority.