§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many persons were employed by his 1156W Department in processing sick benefit claim forms in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. DeakinsStaff in local social security offices perform a range of duties, and dealing with a claim involves a range of activities. It is estimated that the number of staff in local offices engaged for the most part, although not wholly, in processing claims to sickness and invalidity benefit might be of the following order:
Year ending March Staff engaged mainly although not wholly in processing claims to sickness and invalidity benefit* 1972 … 9 300 1973 … 9,700 1974 … 10,100 1975† … 10,300 1976 … 10,100 * Estimates based on the results of an annual 13-week exercise for complementing purposes. † Provision was made in preparation for the revised national insurance arrangements of the Social Security Act 1975, for improvements to the management structure and for additional staff training.
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many appeals against decisions to disallow sick benefit claims were made in each of the last five years; and how many appeals in each year were dismissed.
§ Mr. DeakinsFigures, for 1971 to 1974, of appeals to local tribunals and to the National Insurance Commissioner on sickness benefit claims, are set out in Table 3.20 on page 29 of "Social Security Statistics 1974", published by HMSO a copy of which is in the Library. The equivalent figures for 1975 are as follows:
Appeals to Local Tribunals Total appeals … 5,282 Decisions in claimant's favour Number … 805 Percentage … 15 Appeals to the Commissioner Total appeals … 225 Decisions in claimant's favour Number … 52 Percentage … 23
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the normal procedure followed by a DHSS local office when a claim for sick benefit is submitted after the appropriate period for such a claim has elapsed; and what is his estimate of the cost of this procedure.
1157W
§ Mr. OrmeWhen a person claims sickness benefit outside the normal time limits he is asked to provide an explanation if one is not already available. The statutory authorities must then decide whether "good cause" for the delay in claiming has been shown. The time required to clear a case will vary widely and no reliable estimate can be made of the cost.
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claims for sick benefit have been disallowed because the claim was not made within the necessary period in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. OrmeInformation is not available in the precise form requested. For figures for 1971 to 1974 of the estimated numbers of claims to sickness benefit which, on a given day in each of those years, were disallowed for that particular day because they were made outside the time limits, I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Mr Golding) on 20th January. The equivalent estimate for 1975 is 300. [Vol. 903, cc.431–32.]
§ Mr. Richard Wainwrightasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what was the total number of claims for sick benefit submitted for processing in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. DeakinsFigures for new claims to sickness and invalidity benefit in Great Britain for 1971 to 1974 are given in Table 3.07 of the HMSO Publication "Social Security Statistics" a copy of which is in the Library. The total number of new claims for 1975 which includes claims to non-contributory invalidity pension, introduced on 20th November 1975, is 9,601,000