§ Mr. MallonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in receipt of disability living allowance have had their awards terminated following an examining medical practitioner's report in each of the past 24 months. [1775]
§ Mr. MossResponsibility for the subject has been delegated to the Social Security Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Alec Wylie. I have asked him to arrange for a response to be given.
Letter from Gerry Keenan to Mr. Seamus Mallon, dated 1 November 1996:
564WYour recent Parliamentary Question on Disability Living Allowance has been passed to Mr Wylie, Chief Executive of the Social Security Agency for reply. As Mr Wylie is on leave, I am replying on his behalf.You asked how many people in receipt of Disability Living Allowance have had their awards terminated following an Examining Medical Practitioner's (EMP) report in each of the past 24 months. Specific records are not maintained on the actual number of claims which were terminated where an Examining Medical Practitioner's report had been requested. However I can supply information on the number of claims disallowed on review or at renewal stage where an Examining Medical Practitioner's report was considered to be the main evidence on which the decision was based and this is illustrated in the attached table.I hope this explains the position to you and I would be happy to provide you with any further information you require.
Number of disability living allowance claims disallowed based on an EMP report Month Number of EMP visits Number of claims disallowed on review Number of claims disallowed at renewal stage Total disallowed October 1994 1,804 120 32 152 November 1994 2,177 177 59 236 December 1994 1,481 66 41 107 January 1995 1,890 161 65 226 February 1995 1,894 168 75 243 March 1995 2,024 139 54 193 April 1995 1,581 68 36 104 May 1995 1,655 108 48 156 June 1995 1,598 128 65 193 July 1995 1,079 86 42 128 August 1995 1,551 95 41 136 September 1995 1,831 140 61 201 October 1995 1,861 152 83 235 November 1995 1,616 119 66 185 December 1995 1,161 58 41 99 January 1996 1,397 146 48 194 February 1996 1,089 106 43 149 March 1996 972 77 43 120 April 1996 998 77 25 102 May 1996 1,186 68 26 94 June 1996 953 58 27 85 July 1996 723 66 23 89 August 1996 910 85 29 114 September 1996 793 55 32 87 Total 34,260 2,523 1,105 3,628 Records only indicate the number of disallowances where an EMP report was considered to be the main evidence on which the decision was based. Other evidence such as GP reports etc. could have been held also.
§ Mr. MallonTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many appeals against disability living allowance decisions have been heard in each of the past 24 months; and of these how many were (i) allowed, (ii) disallowed and (iii) deferred. [1776]
§ Mr. MossResponsibility for the subject has been delegated to the Social Security Agency under its chief executive, Mr. Alex Wylie. I have asked him to arrange for a response to be given.
Letter from Gerry Keenan to Mr. Seamus Mallon, dated 1 November 1996:
565WYour recent Parliamentary Question on Disability Living Allowance has been passed to the Chief Executive of the Social Security Agency, Mr. Wylie for reply. As he is on leave, I am replying on his behalf.You asked how many appeals against Disability Living Allowance decisions have been heard in each of the past 24 months; and of these how many were allowed, disallowed or deferred. The information is set out on the attached table. I should point out that the decisions of the Appeal Tribunal are not normally notified to Disability Living Allowance Branch in the month that they are heard. Therefore the figures in column one of the table refer to the month in which the decision was received in the Branch and this is how our statistics are maintained.I hope this explains the position to you and I would be happy to provide any further information you require.
Disability living allowance appeal decisions in the past 24 months Month decisions notified to DLA Branch Number of tribunal decisions Number disallowed Number allowed Number adjourned November 1994 174 97 70 7 December 1994 198 114 84 — January 1995 247 153 82 12 February 1995 178 102 63 13 March 1995 232 121 94 17 April 1995 243 136 94 13 May 1995 251 136 89 26 June 1995 190 109 69 12 July 1995 227 133 82 12 August 1995 139 87 42 10 September 199 389 259 124 6 October 1995 257 164 83 10 November 1995 389 252 132 5 December 1995 249 156 88 5 January 1996 345 227 108 10 February 1996 411 258 149 4 March 1996 307 192 104 11 April 1996 279 166 105 8 May 1996 221 136 81 4 June 1996 221 132 77 12 July 1996 214 114 89 11 August 1996 238 170 63 5 September 1996 260 184 69 7 October 1996 176 115 55 6 Total 6,035 3,713 2,096 226