§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time was between receipt of requests to re-examine claims for attendance allowance and their examination, in each of the last four years. [11386]
§ Maria EagleThis is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated November 2001:
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to respond to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average time was between receipt of requests to re-examine claims for Attendance Allowance and their examination in each of the last four years.The actual average clearance times for Attendance Allowance (AA) reviews between April 1997 and September 2001 are shown in the attached table. Please note that under the Decision Making and Appeals (DMA) procedures introduced in October 99, the review process changed in some respects and was henceforth termed reconsiderations. Reconsiderations occur when a claimant asks for a claim to be looked at again within one month of the previous decision.The DMA procedures introduced in 1999 led to temporary backlogs of work, and taken with a growing caseload for disability benefits, the average time taken to reconsider claims increased very significantly. These backlogs were tackled as a priority and the average clearance time for reconsiderations is now significantly lower.I hope this is helpful.312W
Date Average days taken Reviews (AA) April 1997-March 1998 April 1997 43.20 May 1997 44.72 June 1997 53.69 July 1997 53.17 August 1997 52.57 September 1997 52.17 October 1997 50.40 November 1997 47.99 December 1997 45.34 January 1998 48.41 February 1998 42.30 March 1998 38.48 Reviews (AA) April 1998-March 1999 April 1998 39.10 May 1998 38.04 June 1998 38.90 July 1998 40.58 August 1998 42.06 September 1998 43.54 October 1998 43.54 November 1998 43.24 December 1998 44.38 January 1999 46.05 February 1999 54.39 March 1999 44.13 Reviews (AA) April 1999-March 2000 April 1999 44.34 May 1999 46.07 June 1999 51.14 July 1999 54.73 August 1999 54.61
Date Average days taken September 1999 52.57 October 1999 53.98 November 1999 67.75 December 1999 75.17 January 2000 90.78 February 2000 105.59 March 2000 129.80 Reconsiderations (AA) October 1999-March 2000 April 1999 — May 1999 — June 1999 — July 1999 — August 1999 — September 1999 — October 1999 24 November 1999 28 December 1999 36 January 2000 52 February 2000 62 March 2000 65 Reconsiderations (AA) April 2000-March 2001 April 2000 63 May 2000 60.2 June 20005 4.4 July 2000 50.9 August 2000 47.5 September 2000 51.8 October 2000 46.1 November 2000 44.9 December 2000 42.2 January 2001 44.4 February 2001 40.5 March 2001 35.6 Reconsiderations (AA) April 2001-September 2001 April 2001 36 May 2001 33.9 June 2001 35.3 July 2001 36.1 August 2001 36.1 September 2001 38.5
§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what factors determine the length of time for a decision to be given in response to those who request that their claims for attendance allowance are re-examined; and if he will make a statement. [11388]
§ Maria EagleThis is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 6 November 2001:
313WThe Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to respond to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what factors determine the length of time for a decision to be given in response to those who request that their claims for Attendance Allowance are re-examined; and if he will make a statement.A number of factors can affect the length of time it takes to re-examine claims for Attendance Allowance. In particular, before a final decision can be taken on their case, a decision maker (DM) may need additional evidence from claimants or further medical evidence or reports about the effects of their disabilities on their care needs.I hope this is helpful.
§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many appeals against decisions on attendance allowance have been made in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available; and how many(a) have been allowed, (b) have been dismissed and (c) are awaiting a decision in each of the last four years. [11385]
§ Maria EagleThis is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the hon. Member.
Month AA appeals registered Allowed appeals (a) Dismissed appeals (b) Outstanding appeals (c) Total number of cleared cases (d) October 2000 1,434 386 3 3,116 1,271 November 2000 1,545 502 6 2,284 1,539 December 2000 1,023 425 6 1,958 1,246 January 2001 1,311 613 8 1,698 2,008 February 2001 1,330 636 4 1,672 1,770 March 2001 1,442 642 5 1,649 1,688 April 2001 1,317 431 1 1,799 1,227 May 2001 1,212 448 3 1,646 1,237 June 2001 1,263 430 3 1,475 1,210 July 2001 1,331 431 3 1,447 1,266 August 2001 1,261 397 3 1,516 1,142 September 2001 1,129 338 5 1,676 1,078 (a) Allowed appeals include allowed or increased appeals. (d) Dismissed appeals include cases where entitlement is reduced or disallowed on appeal. (c) Outstanding appeals include all cases sent to the ribunal awaiting a decision. (d) The total number of cleared cases column includes allowed, dismissed, maintained and various other outcomes that are not appropriate to the stated categories. It is not possible. from overall statistics to track individual claims through the subsequent stages.
§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average time is for dealing with requests by those seeking an explanation for decisions relating to claims for attendance allowance. [11384]
§ Maria EagleThis is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated November 2001:
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to respond to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average time is for dealing with requests by those seeking an explanation for decisions relating to claims for attendance allowance.There are two types of explanation available to claimants, a verbal explanation and a written explanation. A customer is entitled to ask for an explanation in one or both forms to help them understand the reasons for the decision on their entitlement to Attendance Allowance. The actual average clearance times for requests for explanations of decisions relating to Attendance Allowance is three days.I hope this is helpful.