§ Mr. BradleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to improve the performance of his Department in the recovery of overpayments of social security benefits.
§ 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 and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Mr. M. Bichard to Mr. Keith Bradley, dated 27 July 1993:
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking what plans he has to improve the performance of his Department in the recovery of overpayments of social security benefits.The report of the Efficiency Scrutiny into the Management of Departmental Debt in December 1989 identified a number of key issues concerning recovery of money owed to the Department, the major concern was the priority given in the Department to benefit delivery over revenue collection. In order to take forward the recommendations of the Efficiency Scrutiny an Information Study was conducted over a 6 month period ending in June 1991.Following the recommendations made in the above reports various initiatives have been implemented in the overpayment recovery field. An Income Support recovery yield target for the financial year 1992–93 of £30 million was issued in August 1992. This was a 45 per cent. increase over the amount collected in 1991–92 and yet it was exceeded, the total recovery being £38.2 million. Further targets have been introduced for 1993–94 amounting to £54 million with recovery on non Income Support overpayments also being included.The BA are actively pursuing the establishment of a Central Recovery Group to collect outstanding overpayments of Income Support where the customer is no longer in receipt of benefit.In addition to the above BA staff have been issued with revised training material and a good practice guide aimed at assisting in the identification, calculation and recovery of overpaid benefit. The Overpayment Recovery Guide, a manual which assists staff in their recovery work, has been comprehensively rewritten and the letters which notify customers of overpayments and request repayment have been drafted in plain English. The procedure for referring cases for civil action, should recovery break down, has also been streamlined and is showing positive results.Work is also proceeding to develop Information Technology to assist in the overpayment process.I hope you will find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also appear in the Library.
§ Mr. BradleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in how many cases in each of the last five years civil enforcement action has been taken in either the county court or the sheriffs court to recover sums owed by way of social security benefits.
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§ Mr. BurtThe administration of social security benefits is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member shortly and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Mr. M. Bichard to Mr. Keith Bradley, dated 29 July 1993:
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking in how many cases, in each of the last five years, civil enforcement action has been taken in either the County Court or the Sheriffs' Court to recover sums owed by way of Social Security benefits".The information you have requested is shown below.
Year ending 31 March County court Sheriff's court 1989 311 113 1990 250 84 1991 249 57 1992 612 260 11993 6,657 1,235 1 The reasons for the 1993 figures being higher than previous years are that the work has been devolved from a central location to Area Offices which has led to increased efficiency. In addition, in July 1992, the process for referring cases was streamlined and the proceedings limit was reduced from £300 to £50. I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.
§ Mr. BradleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a breakdown by benefit of the number of recipients of benefits other than income support, where deductions are being made for the recovery of overpayments under section 71 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992.
§ 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. M. Bichard to Mr. Keith Bradley, dated 27 July 1993:
230WAs Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking for a breakdown by benefit of the number of recipients of benefits, other than Income Support, where deductions are being made for the recovery of overpayments under section 71 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992.I regret that I am unable to provide the exact information you requested. Overpayments are recovered by virtue of both sections 71 and 74 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992. The relevant section is noted on individual claims to assist in the adjudication process only. These details are not collated locally and therefore no central records can be maintained. Obtaining the information you requested could be done only at disproportionate cost.However, you may be interested to know that recovery by deduction from non Income Support benefits to recover overpayments is currently being made on 21,142 claims. These overpayments are being recovered by virtue of both sections 71 and 74 of the 1992 Administration Act. I can advise that of these, 15,494 are for benefits administered by our District Offices with the following details for those benefits administered centrally;
Number Attendance Allowance 607 Family Credit 607 Invalid Care Allowance 3,146 Mobility Allowance/Disability Living Allowance 740 Disability Working Allowance 6 I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this letter will appear in the official report and a copy will be placed in the Library.
§ Mr. BradleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what amounts have been recovered by way of overpayments of benefit in each of the last five years.
§ 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. M. Bichard to Mr. Keith Bradley, dated 27 July 1993:
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking what amounts have been recovered by way of overpayments of benefit in each of the last five years.I regret that I am unable to provide the information you requested for the last five years. Centrally collected information on Income Support overpayments is held only from April 1991, when the first central target was set for Income Support recoveries. Information for all the other non-Income Support Benefits is being kept from April 1993 and recovery performance will not be known until April 1994.In 1991/92, £24.2m was recovered from overpayments of Income Support, against a target of £18m. This figure rose to £38.2m in 1992/93, against a target of £30m. A target of £54m has been set for 1993/94 for recovery of all benefits and the current year end outlook shows that this target will be exceeded.I hope that you find this reply helpful. A copy of this letter will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the Library.
§ Mr. BradleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many invalidity benefit recipients were found(a) medically incapable of work, after examination, (b) capable of work, after examination, or (c) medically capable of suitable alternative work (i) in April, May and June 1992 and (ii) in April, May and June 1993;
(2) how many invalidity benefit recipients were referred to the Benefits Agency medical service (a) in April, May and June 1992 and (b) April, May and June 1993.
§ Mr. ScottThe administration of invalidity benefit 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. M. Bichard to Mr. Keith Bradley, dated 27 July 1993:
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for social security asking (i) how many invalidity benefit recipients were referred to the benefit agency Medical Service (a) in April, May and June 1992 and (b) 231W April, May and June 1993 and (ii) how many invalidity benefit recipients were found (a) medically incapable of work, after examination, (b) capable of work after examination, or (c) medically capable of suitable alternative work (i) in April, May and June 1992 and (ii) in April, May and June 1993.>The complete range of information requested is not available. This is because for operational reasons, figures for Scotland and Wales are not available. The full range of information will be available from April 1994. The figures available also include sickness benefit recipients as separate figures are not held. The figures below therefore relate to England only.
- (1a) Sickness benefit/invalidity benefit referrals to BAMS in April, May and June 1992 = 172,637.
- (b) Sickness benefit/invalidity benefit referrals to BAMS in April, May and June 1993 = 170,788.
I hope that you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.
- (2a) Sickness benefit/invalidity benefit recipients found medically incapable of work after examination:
- (i) in April, May and June 1992 = 33,847
- (ii) in April, May and June 1993 = 28,275
- (b) Sickness benefit/invalidity benefit recipients found capable of work after medical examination:
- (i) in April, May and June 1992 = 5,148
- (ii) in April, May and June 1993 = 3,280
- (c) Sickness benefit/invalidity benefit recipients found medically capable of suitable alternative work after medical examination:
- (i) in April, May and June 1992 = 11,442
- (ii) in April, May and June 1993 = 14,586