§ Ms. RuddockTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what arrangements have been made since the letter of 6 October from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Lord Henley, to the hon. Member for Lewisham, Deptford to provide a better service for correspondence on operational issues.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of disability living allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Michael Bichard to Ms. Joan Ruddock, dated 30 October 1992:
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised m your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking what arrangements have been made since the letter from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Lord Henley, in connection with a constituency case, to provide a better service for correspondence on operational matters.In relation to Disability Living Allowance (DLA), the matter you raised in your earlier correspondence, we have received over four thousand enquiries from MPs about the progress of their constituents' claims and consequently we have not been able to respond as quickly as we would have liked. We have targeted considerable extra resources into this area and are pursuing the clearance of outstanding written enquiries as quickly as possible.As I explained in my letter of 6 July and 19 October to all MPs, I appreciate that you will have constituents who are seriously concerned about the progress of their claim to DLA. To facilitate your enquiries on their behalf the telephone hotline remains available for MPs who have very urgent enquiries and this service will be maintained until at least the end of the year.I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.
§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (I) if he will list by month for the past 12 months98W the number of unemployed 16 and l7-year-olds in the Doncaster area who received financial support due to non-availability of places on a training scheme;
(2) if he will list by month for the past 12 months how many unemployed 16 and 17-year-olds in the Doncaster area received income support under the severe hardship provision.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of benefits is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 30 October 1992:
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking if he will list by month for the last 12 months the number of unemployed 16 and 17 year olds in the Doncaster area who received financial support due to non-availability of places on a training scheme and those who received Income Support under the severe hardship provision.I have detailed below the total number of applications under the severe hardship provisions and the number in which payment was awarded. Unemployed 16 and 17 year olds who receive payment due to non-availability of places on a training scheme form the same group of customers.Details of the total number of claims to severe hardship payments do not equate with the number of customers. This is because the statistics cover the number of applications, rather than the number of individuals who have claimed. Some customers may have made more than one application.
Total applications Successful applications 1991 October 36 26 November 41 30 December 28 22 1992 January 54 39 February 43 37 March 43 27 April 56 38 May 48 29 June 48 40 July 39 31 August 42 30 September 53 39 I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.