§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member 490W for Caernarvon (Mr. Wigley) on 22 January, Official Report, c. 205, if he will give the figures for Scotland of (a) the proportion of people in receipt of mobility allowance whose allowance was reviewed during 1981 and was stopped, (b) 0f these, what proportion took their application for renewal to appeal and (c) what proportion of these were successful.
§ Mr. RossiReviews of mobility allowance are carried out by medical boards when a report suggests that the claimant may no longer satisfy the medical conditions for the allowance. In 1981 six cases were reviewed from a total number of beneficiaries in Scotland which reach,c1 19,260 by the end of the year—that is, 0.03 per cent. Each review was at the initiative of the claimant, who reported that his condition had changed. All these reviews resulted in withdrawal of the allowance. There have been no subsequent appeals.
As to those cases where a renewal claim is made on expiry of a previous award, I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Caernarvon (Mr. Wigley) on 18 January.—[Vol. 16, c. 43–44]. Separate figures are not available for Scotland.
§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average length of time in (a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom from the initial application to receipt of mobility allowance.
§ Mr. RossiIn the quarter ended 31 December 1981 the average time from receipt of claim to issue of an order book was just under 19 weeks. I regret that separate information about claims from people in Scotland is not available.
§ Mr. Home Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will publish in the Official Report the numbers of initial applicants for mobility allowance in (a) Scotland and (b) the United Kingdom who appealed in the 12 months from 1 January 1981 to 1 January 1982, and the number of successful appeals.
§ Mr. RossiIn the period from 1 January 1981 to 1 January 1982 medical boards decided 7,120 appeals, of which 2,270 were successful. Medical appeal tribunals decided 2,450 appeals, of which 690 were successful. I regret that separate figures for appeals on initial claims, and figures for Scotland, are not available.
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what progress is being made in devising regulations to enable the mobility allowances paid to long-stay patients in mental hospitals to be used for their benefit.
§ Mr. RossiIn January 1981 the Department issued a consultative document "Patients Money in Long-Stay Hospitals"—a copy of which is in the Library—which suggested the formation of patients' clubs to facilitate the use of mobility allowance and other social security allowances for the benefit of patients. The patients' club proposal did not receive general support, but a number of other suggestions were made which we are now considering.
§ Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what advice is given to the relatives of long-stay patients in mental hospitals concerning the use of the mobility allowance that the patients have.
§ Mr. RossiA relative who is appointed to act on a patient's behalf and to receive and deal with his mobility 491W allowance is told that the allowance belongs absolutely to the patient and that it must be used to his best advantage, taking account of any existing commitments.