§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the latest figures for the number of applications for invalidity benefit which have(a) been initially refused, (b) gone to appeal and (c) been granted at appeal; and if he will make a statement. [17812]
§ Mr. BurtThe information is in the table:
Number of incapacity benefit recipients disallowed benefit Number of appeals by incapacity benefit recipients received by Independent Tribunal Service Number of appeals by incapacity benefit recipients cleared at hearing Number of decisions in favour of appellant April 1995 to January 1997 185,400 102,600 43,400 19,700 Notes:
1. Incapacity benefit replaced sickness benefit and invalidity benefit from April 1995.
325W2. Currently around 55 per cent. of incapacity benefit recipients who are disallowed benefit appeal. The benefit is restored in approximately 45 per cent. of cases heard by appeal tribunals.
3. The proportion of successful appeals against refusal of incapacity benefit is lower than the previous appeal success rate under invalidity benefit and similar to the success rate of appeals throughout the social security appeal system.
4. Includes appeals against disallowance of incapacity benefit.
5. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100, provisional and are subject to revision.
Sources:
Benefits Agency and Independent Tribunal Service.
§ Mr. Alan HowarthTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are currently claiming(a) incapacity benefit and (b) severe disablement allowance; and how many of these have an increase in benefit in respect of an adult dependant. [18977]
§ Mr. BurtThe information is in the table.
Recipients at 31 August 1996 Recipients of an adult dependency increase at 31 August 1996 Incapacity benefit 1,780,000 332,000 Severe disablement allowance 355,000 4,000 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
2. Figures are taken from a 5 per cent, sample of the computer system and exclude a small number of cases not held on the system.
§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average length of time the Benefits Agency currently takes to assess an application for incapacity benefit; and what benefit an applicant is entitled to while awaiting the outcome. [19634]
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of social security benefits is a matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Jeremy Corbyn, dated 12 March 1997]:
The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what is the average length of time the Benefits Agency (BA) currently takes to assess an application for Incapacity Benefit (IB), and whilst an applicant is awaiting the outcome, what benefit he is entitled to.The Secretary of State has set the BA the following targets for clearing new claims to IB:—
- 65% to be cleared within 10 days
- 85% to be cleared within 30 days
The actual performance year to date, from 1 April 1996 to 31 January 1997, is:-
- 79.3% of new claims to IB are cleared within 10 days
- 95.7% of new claims to IB are cleared within 30 days
The BA administers more than 20 benefits, all of which can be claimed at any time. Award of benefit is dependent on satisfaction of the conditions of entitlement for the particular benefit at the time of the claim. Without specific details of a persons circumstances it is not possible to determine entitlement to individual benefits.
I hope you find this reply helpful.