§ 49. Mr. Hardyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons have applied for mobility allowances; and, of those, what was the number rejected.
§ Mr. Alfred MorrisOur planning was on the basis that perhaps twice as many people would claim as were entitled. In fact, excluding those who have claimed but are not within the currently eligible age group, the ratio of successful to unsuccessful claims is now expected to be of the order of 3:1. To date, nearly 28,000 claims have been received from people in the eligible age groups. Of these, over 13,000 have been determined, about 11,000 being successful, including some which succeeded under the appeal machinery of the new scheme, and 2,000 rejected. Those claims which have been decided so far include a high proportion where existing medical evidence enabled an award to be made without further medical examination; and it is not yet possible to give an accurate success rate for the whole of the currently eligible age group.