§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy to grant payments of severe disability income support premiums regardless of whether the claimant is living alone.
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§ Mr. BurtNo. The disability or higher pensioner premiums are included in the calculation of income support, housing benefit or community charge benefit for disabled people, whether or not they live alone. The severe disability premium is, and always has been, intended to give additional help to those severely disabled people who, because they live independently and do not have a carer receiving invalid care allowance, are most likely to need to rely on bought-in care. We have no plans to change this policy.
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the estimated cost for 1992–93 of(a) disability living allowance and (b) disability working allowance, respectively.
§ Mr. ScottThe estimated costs were published in the 1992 departmental report. These figures will be revised in due course to reflect actual experience of the new benefits.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims for(a) disability working allowance and (b) disability living allowance received from claimants in Wales are still awaiting a decision; what is the average delay in processing such claims; and what are the comparable figures for England and Scotland.
§ Mr. ScottThe administration of disability working allowance and disability living allowance are a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He wrote to the hon. Member and copies will be placed in the Library and the Public Information Office.
March April May June July August September Awards made 162 314 317 295 296 284 446 Claims disallowed 3,046 3,534 2,349 2,402 2,545 1,675 1,300 The information requested about reasons for refusal is extracted from an analysis of weekly data and converted to monthly periods:
March April May June July August September Not in remunerative work 1,669 2,253 1,339 1,362 1,728 984 684 Income exceeds DWA level 118 314 268 274 379 245 253 No qualifying benefit 578 1,289 548 453 632 395 393 Other reasons 287 189 75 69 82 51 60
§ Mr. DewarTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims for disability working allowance have been received in each month to date; how many were
March April May June July August September Claims received 4,153 4,124 2,570 2,700 2,344 2,081 2,085 Claims decided 3,208 3,848 2,666 2,697 2,841 1,959 1,746 Claims outstanding 870 1,011 834 743 678 693 758 The claims outstanding at the end of each month are awaiting the outcome of further enquiries about the claim; there have been no delays in dealing with claims.
Information was not available before the benefit commenced to make a reliable estimate of the number of claims which might be expected.
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§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims for(a) disability working allowance and (b) disability living allowance have been received from residents in Blaenau Gwent; if he will publish a breakdown of how many of these claims have resulted in an award, been unsuccessful or are still awaiting a decision; and how many awards are actually in payment.
§ Mr. ScottI understand from Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, that the information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people in(a) Blaenau Gwent and (b) Wales have received payments from the disabled living fund.
§ Mr. ScottInformation is not available in the form requested. However, on 6 October the independent living fund had 97 clients in Gwent and 877 in Wales as a whole.