§ Mr. Denis MurphyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many and what percentage of people are currently in receipt of(a) disability living allowance, (b) industrial disablement benefit and (c) incapacity benefit (i) in the United Kingdom and (ii) in the Wansbeck parliamentary constituency. [19276]
§ Mr. DenhamThe administration of social security benefits is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Denis Murphy, dated 18 December 1997:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many and what percentage of people are currently in receipt of (a) Disability Living Allowance (DLA),(b) Industrial Disablement Benefit (IIDB), and (c)Incapacity Benefit (IB), (i) in the United Kingdom and (ii) in the Wansbeck parliamentary constituency.The information is not available in the format requested. Statistics for DLA, IIDB and IB are available for Great Britain. Statistics for IIDB and IB are kept for Benefits Agency (BA) Districts and not by parliamentary constituency. The BA's Northumbria District serves the Wansbeck area.Such information as is available is shown in the attached table.I hope this reply is helpful.Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Steve Webb, dated 18 December 1997:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question regarding how many recipients of each of the main disability benefits have had their benefits reduced and stopped as a result of the Benefits Integrity Programme (BIP), and what proportion of these recipients are over pension age.As at 30 November 1997, the BIP has looked at 27,511 Disability Living Allowance (DLA) awards. Of these awards 2,339 were reduced, 1,152 were disallowed entirely, 23,363 left unaltered and 657 increased. In addition staff working on the BIP have dealt with 5,979 renewal claims of which 1,080 have been disallowed, 1,541 renewed at a lower rate, 3,174 renewed at the same rate and 184 renewed at a higher rate.361WThe age distribution of the awards changed as a result of the BIP is not available in the format requested. However, the proportion of DLA awards to people over pension age which were looked at, inclusive of the renewal claims dealt with by BIP staff is 10,371. Of these 762 were reduced, 310 were disallowed entirely, while 265 were increased.I hope you find this reply helpful.