§ Mr. Strangasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people have applied for the attendance allowance up to the latest available date; how many applications have been turned down; how many applicants have appealed; how many appeals have been unsuccessful; and if he will give a break-down of the figures for each of the 10 regional centres in England and for Scotland and Wales.
§ Mr. DeanNearly 70,000 people had applied for attendance allowance up to 19th October, the latest date for which figures are available; in about 16,700 cases medical practitioners acting on behalf of the Attendance Allowance Board at Edinburgh and Cardiff and at the 10 regional centres in England had decided that the medical conditions were not satisfied and in 14,000 of these the 459W claimant had been so notified by the Department's Blackpool Central Office, some 4,500 had applied for review; under 100 had been unsuccessful on review. A breakdown for Scotland and Wales and for each of the 10 regional centres can only be given in respect of numbers of claims received and numbers where the medical conditions were initially not considered to be satisfied. The figures arc as follows:
Centre Claims (approximately) Numbers where medical conditions were initially held to be not satisfied (approximately) Scotland 6,000 2,000 Wales 5,600 1,200 Northern 4,700 1,100 Yorkshire and Humberside 6,700 1,700 East Midlands and East Anglia 6,700 1,000 London North 5,600 1,100 London South 7,500 1,400 London West 6,000 1,400 South Western 5,000 1,300 West Midlands 5,400 1,800 North Western— Manchester 5,200 1,200 Liverpool 5,200 1,500 Total 69,600 16,700
§ Mr. Prescottasked the Secretary of State for Social Services in view of almost 50 per cent, of disabled adults and over 25 per cent, of disabled children's applications for attendance allowance being refused, if he will reconsider terms governing the granting of such allowances at present being narrowly interpreted.
§ Mr. DeanWhen the attendance allowance was introduced it was made clear that as many as 100,000 claims might have to be considered in order to find the 50,000 people who, it was estimated, would satisfy the qualifying conditions, and therefore that many people would not qualify for the allowance who were yet very disabled. The introduction of the allowance will represent a major new advance and it would be premature to consider reviewing it before we have had sufficient experience of its practical operation.
§ Mr. Prescottasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of those applications for attendance 460W allowance for severely disabled people considered by the appeal body was successful.
§ Mr. DeanSome 4,500 claimants for attendance allowance have applied to the Attendance Allowance Board to have the original determination of their claim reviewed. Up to 19th October, 2,300 applications had been dealt with and 96 per cent. had been decided in the applicants' favour. In general, these represent the cases which could be settled favourably to the claimant with no more than a second medical report.
§ Mr. Prescottasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what has been the total amount of applications received for attendance allowance from severely disabled persons and how many were granted.
§ Mr. DeanNearly 70,000 people in Great Britain had applied for attendance allowance up to 19th October, the latest date for which figures are available; nearly 45,000 claims had been dealt with and the allowance had been awarded in nearly 31,000 cases, either at the initial stage or following an application for review.