§ Mr. McNamaraasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if he will make a statement on the backlog of work at the family allowance centre, Newcastle; how far work is behind; what is the average delay for books being sent to Newcastle for alteration; how many complaints his Department has received about the delay in correcting of family allowance books and the return of them to mothers; if he will take steps to mitigate the considerable hardship to the families involved; and if he will make a statement;
(2) whether to overcome any backlog of work at the family allowance centre at Newcastle he will employ extra civil servants to deal with the problem.
§ Mrs. ChalkerBecause of the effects of industrial action at the child benefit centre, Washington, there are delays in the issue of some child benefit order books.
It is not possible to determine without disproportionate time and expense the average delay for those claims in which an order book has been returned for the issue of a further order book for a different amount. However, the child benefit centre is giving priority to those claims in which a mother is without an order book and any cases of hardship caused by the absence of an order book should be taken up with the local office of the Department of Health and Social Security.
Complaints received at the child benefit centre are not analysed to show how many relate to the re-issue of order books. Letters of complaint addressed to me or my ministerial colleagues usually average about 0.02 per cent, of the cases handled each year but the level of complaints has been higher recently.