§ Mr. MeacherTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many claims for attendance allowance under the terminal illness rules have been received by his Department since the new rules came into force; what is the average number of days between day of claim and the date of the decision for such claims; what are the shortest and longest clearance times to date; and what is the average clearance time for reviews;
(2) what is the success rate for (a) initial claims and (b) reviews of claims for attendance allowance under the terminal illness rules; and if he will list the numbers of refusals by grounds for refusal.
§ Mr. ScottSuch information as is available is in the table.
Attendance allowance: claims and reviews under the special rules for terminal illness Number and Estimate Number of claims decided (to end January 1991) 20,200 Estimated average time from claim to decision 10.5 days Estimated success rate of claims 95 per cent. Estimated average clearance time for reviews 3.8 weeks Estimated success rate of reviews1 77 per cent. 1 In a significant number of cases, where the review was not successful under the special rules, the review was changed to one under the normal rules.