§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claimants for(a) disability living allowance and (b) attendance allowance have requested a medical; and what those figures represent as percentages of the total number of claimants for each of hose allowances.
§ Mr. ScottThe information is not available in the form requested.
About 20 per cent. of all claims for both disability living allowance and attendance allowance are decided after a report by an examining medical practitioner has been obtained. The information collected by the Department does not identify why such a report has been requested. This may be at the request of the customer, as part of the monitoring of the claims process, or to provide additional evidence for the adjudication officer when reaching his decision.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secetary of State for Social Security what was the total number and percentage of claims for disability living allowance where the adjudication officer required further evidence; and what were the number and percentage requiring(a) an examining medical practitioner report, (b) general practitioner factual reports, (c) other evidence and (d) both general practitioner and examining medical practitioner evidence.
§ Mr. ScottInformation is not held about the number of cases in which both a general practitioner's factual report and an examining medical practitioner report is required. The other information is in the table.
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Decisions requiring further evidence 1 February 1992 to 31 January 1994 Number Percentage of all decisions (a) An examining medical practitioner report 193,836 20 (b) General practitioner's factual report 262,587 27 (c) Other evidence 25,266 3 Total 481,689 49 Source:
DSS (Analytical Services Division): 100 per cent. count of cases.
Due to rounding the percentages do not sum.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing the number and percentage of disability living allowance claimants who are in receipt of other sources of income, by source and average amount of such other income.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many requests for(a) reviews and (b) appeals to a disability appeal tribunal have been received by his Department in each month since April 1993; and how many were outstanding at the end of each month;
(2) how many requests for (a) reviews and (b) appeals to a disability appeal tribunal have been received by each disability benefits centre area since April 1993; and how many are outstanding in each area.
§ Mr. ScottFigures are not available for each separate disability benefit centre, however the national figures are in the tables.
Reviews Received Outstanding 1993 April 16,982 47,307 May 19,664 37,928 June 22,368 31,895 July 21,342 27,285 August 21,664 30,824 September 24,180 32,823 October 24,640 35,413 November 27,573 35,908 December 17,189 29,119 1994 January 24,449 24,996
Appeals Received Outstanding at 1DLAU Outstanding at 2ITS 1993 April 2,710 4,649 4,574 May 2,756 4,906 6,680 June 3,247 5,468 8,283 July 3,019 5,173 10,138 August 2,182 3,761 12,075 September 2,061 2,655 13,494 October 2,081 2,481 14,530 November 2,519 2,630 14,975 December 1,728 2,209 15,594 1994 January 2,367 1,906 15,790 Source: DSS (Analytical Service Division): 100 per cent. count of cases.
1DLAU is the Disability Living Allowance Unit
2ITS is the Independent Tribunal Service
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§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average length of time between lodging an appeal and the disability appeal tribunal hearing in cases concerning disability living allowance.
§ Mr. ScottI am informed by the president of the Independent Tribunal Service that in January the average time from lodging a disability living allowance appeal to the date of hearing was 24 weeks.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many and what percentage of disability living allowance awards upon review were(a) maintained, (b) allowed, (c) disallowed, (d) increased, (e) varied or (f) reduced; and how many are outstanding.
§ Mr. ScottInformation is not available in the form requested. Such information as is available is in the table and relates to all review decisions. Decisions may be reviewed because the claimant's condition has deteriorated since the original decision was given or because additional evidence has been provided.
Review decisions 1 February 1992 to 31 January 1994 Type of decision Number Percentage All decisions 291,887 100 Award maintained (original award upheld) 130,691 44.8 Allowed (original disallowance overturned) 76,764 26.2 Disallowed (original disallowance upheld) 8,137 2.8 Increased (original award increased) 55,564 19.0 Varied (rate of award unchanged but duration varied) 5,807 2.0 Reduced (original award reduced) 1,090 0.4 Number outstanding 24,966 Source: DSS (Analytical Services Division): 100 per cent. count of cases.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many and what percentage of disability living allowance awards upon appeal were(a) maintained, (b) allowed, (c) disallowed, (d) increased, (e) varied or (f) reduced; and how many are outstanding.
§ Mr. ScottThe available information is in the table. It covers the period 1 February 1992 to 31 January 1994.
Number Percentage Total number of decisions 13,892 100.0 Award maintained 5,096 26.7 Allowed 5,024 36.2 Disallowed 990 7.1 Increased 1,421 10.2 Varied 58 0.4 Reduced 2 0.0 Outstanding 15,790 — Notes:
1. "Award maintained" is where an original award of benefit was upheld.
2. "Allowed" is where the original disallowance was overturned.
3. "Disallowed" is where an original disallowance was upheld.
4. "Increased" is where an original award was increased.
5. "Varied" is where the rate of the award was unchanged, but the duration altered.
6. "Reduced" is where the original award was reduced.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what percentage of new claims for disability 373W living allowance are successful; what percentage of successful claimants received each component of the benefit; and what percentage of unsuccessful claims are followed up by an application for a review.
§ Mr. ScottThe information is in the table. The percentage of unsuccessful claims which are followed by a request for review cannot be determined. The number of reviews shown include cases where benefit has been awarded but a higher rate or a change in the length of the award is sought. Moreover, reviews may arise for reasons other than dissatisfaction with a decision, for example, a change of circumstances such as a deterioration in their condition.
1 February 1992 to 31 January 1994 Disability living allowance components Number of awards Percentage of total awards Higher rate care 17,000 14 Middle rate care 26,000 16 Lower rate care 45,000 110 Higher rate mobility 124,000 127 Lower rate mobility 22,000 15 Higher rate care/higher rate mobility 66,000 114 Higher rate care/lower rate mobility 14,000 13 Middle rate care/higher rate mobility 34,000 17 Middle rate care/lower rate mobility 30,000 17 Lower rate care/higher rate mobility 47,000 110 Lower rate care/lower rate mobility 30,000 17 Total successful 2453,000 354 Total unsuccessful 387,000 346 Reviews received 317,000 n/a 1 Claims is to disability living allowance as a whole and not to any particular component. 2 Owing to rounding, figures may not sum. 3 As a percentage of decisions made. SourceDSS (Analytical Services Division). Based on a 100 per cent. count.