§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what the(a) target and (b) actual clearance times were for Disability Living Allowance (i) initial applications, (ii) renewal claims, (iii) reviews and (iv) appeals in each quarter from 1996 to October 1999 and monthly from November 1999 to date; [152023]
(2) what the (a) target and (b) actual clearance times were for Disability Living Allowance (i) revisions and (ii) supersessions in each month from November 1999 to date. [152026]
§ Mr. BayleyThe administration of Disability Living Allowance is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the right hon. Member.
Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. Dafydd Wigley, dated 16 March 2001:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking what the (a) target and (b) actual clearance times were for disability living allowance (a) revisions and (b) supersessions in each month form November 1999 to date. Also what the (a) target and (b) actual clearance times
204W
Monthly Initial claims Renewals Reconsiderations Supersessions Appeals October 1999 40.00 35.00 46.00 32.00 48.00 November 1999 44.00 50.00 30.00 38.00 49.00 December 1999 47.00 51.00 37.00 45.00 50.00 January 2000 51.00 54.00 50.00 58.00 57.00 February 2000 51.00 53.00 61.00 68.00 64.00 March 2000 49.00 53.00 66.00 74.00 67.00 were for disability living allowance (i) initial applications, (ii) renewal claims, (iii) reviews and (iv) appeals in each quarter from 1996 to October 1999 and monthly from November 1999 to date.
The information you require is as follows:
1. Targets Primary Secondary April 1996 to March 1997 Initial applications 65% in 30 days 85% in 53 days Renewal claims 65% in 30 days 85% in 55 days Reviews 60% in 55 days 80% in 75 days Appeals 60% in 30 days 90% in 60 days April 1997 to March 1999 Initial applications 62% in 30 days 85% in 53 days Renewal claims 65% in 30 days 85% in 55 days Reviews 60% in 55 days 80% in 75 days Appeals 60% in 30 days 90% in 60 days From April 1999, the Benefits Agency changed the format for reporting performance to a single-tier target.
Target April 1999 to March 2000 Initial applications 85% in 53 days Renewal claims 85% in 55 days Reviews 80% in 75 days Appeals 90% in 60 days April 2000 to March 2001 Initial applications 95% in 53 days Renewal claims 95% in 84 days Reviews 95% in 99 days Appeals 95% in 99 days It should be noted that 'reviews' includes in-time and out-of-time reviews prior to October 1999, and both reconsiderations and supersessions after that date.
2. Actual average clearance times are expressed in days and are:
205W
2. Actual average clearance times—expressed in days Initial claims Renewals Reviews Appeals June 1996 28.51 22.78 44.43 29.32 September 1996 31.21 23.90 47.33 29.90 December 1996 32.01 23.86 48.66 30.12 March 1997 32.10 23.96 49.31 30.04 June 1997 34.20 24.46 49.50 27.95 September 1997 36.51 28.14 53.44 31.67 December 1997 37.34 29.19 53.29 32.79 March 1998 37.23 29.79 52.28 33.20 June 1998 31.50 34.22 46.98 32.17 September 1998 32 44 37.80 48.95 34.57 December 1998 33.93 37.78 49.47 35.08 March 1999 35.03 37.56 49.67 36.08 June 1999 37.54 38.36 54.77 40.72 September 1999 38.72 39.48 57.25 46.38
Monthly Initial claims Renewals Reconsiderations Supersessions Appeals April 2000 49.10 50.00 66.10 73.90 67.40 May 2000 51.50 50.70 60.30 70.40 67.70 June 2000 51.40 49.00 54.50 67.90 66.50 July 2000 48.70 39.30 49.00 62.10 63.90 August 2000 47.50 39.40 43.00 57.90 58.60 September 2000 46.20 34.80 44.80 55.60 61.00 October 2000 45.70 32.30 44.70 55.00 55.40 November 2000 44.50 32.10 42.60 52.50 51.90 December 2000 44.00 31.90 39.40 51.50 48.40 New procedures for assessing claims for DLA/AA were introduced last year to improve the accuracy of decisions on entitlement. Customers can receive clearer explanations of decisions on their benefit entitlement. Initially these changes led to significant increases in the time it took to process each case which, together with a growing caseload, created a temporary, but significant, backlog of work. In addition, the backlog of work caused an increase in the number of enquiries received from customers, resulting in additional work for staff to process. The backlog has been tackled as a priority with a number of improvements being made to processes. forms and the use of IT in order in turn to improve clearance times. However, changes of this order require time for staff to be trained and to become familiar with new processes before they can become fully effective. Decision-makers have become accustomed to the new procedures and the backlog has now been cleared.
I hope this is helpful.