Benefits Agency (Hansard, 16 January 1996)

§ Mr. Roger Evans

The administration of income support is a matter for Peter Mathison, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 15 January 1996: The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question, pursuant to his Answer of 5th December, Official Report, column 152, which offices of the Benefits Agency, other than the Sheffield office, have issued letters to claimants regarding the proposed changes in entitlement under the urgent cases regulations; what action was taken regarding those letters; and if he will place copies of them in the Library. 574W Benefits Agency offices are organised on a District basis and each District can include up to six offices. Annex A, provides a list of those Districts which incorrectly issued letters to customers following the announcement of the proposed changes. Some Districts issued clerical notifications, examples of which are at Annex B and will be placed in the Library. Other Districts issued disallowance notices via the Income Support Computer System (ISCS). Unfortunately, it is not practicable to provide copies of these as they are made-up from a library of more than 1000 standard paragraphs and differ depending on a customer's individual circumstances. Instructions were issued to all District offices on 1 December 1995 advising that decisions should be rescinded and letters of apology sent to all the customers involved. I hope you find this reply helpful.

Annex A List of Benefits Agency District offices that issued letters to customers following the proposed changes in entitlement under the urgent case regulations.

Sheffield East
Leaside
Harrow and Hillingdon
Manchester Central
Manchester South
Sale and East Cheshire
North Surrey
South West Thames
Berkshire
Lea Roding
South Leicestershire
Preston
Makerfield Benefit Centre.