Housing Benefit (Hansard, 26 February 2002)

§ Ms Oona King
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the target time is for housing benefit appeals to be heard by the Appeals Tribunal, from the date of application for appeal; and what the average length of time has been for appeals to be heard by the Tribunal. [34548]
1265W

§ Malcolm Wicks
The target for hearing housing benefit appeals is for the average waiting time from receipt by the Appeals Service to first hearing to be no more than 14 weeks. No target exists for the time taken prior to receipt of the appeal by the Appeals Service for local authorities to prepare the schedule of evidence and to forward the appeal to the Appeals Service.
For housing benefit appeals, the average time taken from receipt at the Appeals Service and the first hearing is 8.0 weeks. The average time between being lodged at a local authority and the first hearing is 30.2 weeks.
Notes:
1. All figures are subject to change as more up to date data become available.
2. Figures are rounded to one decimal place.
3. All figures are provisional and based on the period 1 July 2001 to 30 October 2001.
Source: 100 per cent. download of the Generic Appeals Processing System.

§ Ms Oona King
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many appeals against local authority housing benefit decisions have been(a) lodged and (b) heard since the introduction of the new appeals system in July 2001. [34549]

§ Malcolm Wicks
The available information is as follows:

Housing benefit and housing/council tax benefit (combined) Total case load, appeals lodged and number of first hearings: 1 July 2001 to 31 October 2001

Housing benefit Housing/council tax benefit (combined)

Total case load (August 2001)¹ 3,854,000 Not available

Lodged at a local authority² 925 870

Number of first hearings² 260 190

¹ The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple; the figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand; figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated; housing benefit figures exclude and extended payment cases; approximately 80 per cent, of housing benefit recipients also receive council tax benefit.

Source: Housing Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent, case load stock count taken in August 2001.
² All figures are subject to change as more up to date data become available; figures are rounded to the nearest five; all figures are provisional.
Source100 per cent, download of the Generic Appeals Processing System.

Housing benefit and housing/council tax benefit (combined) Total case load, appeals lodged and number of first hearings: 1 July 2001 to 31 October 2001
	Housing benefit	Housing/council tax benefit (combined)
Total case load (August 2001)¹	3,854,000	Not available
Lodged at a local authority²	925	870
Number of first hearings²	260	190
¹ The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple; the figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand; figures for any non-responding authorities have been estimated; housing benefit figures exclude and extended payment cases; approximately 80 per cent, of housing benefit recipients also receive council tax benefit.