§ Mr. Tilleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) whether he will make arrangements to monitor (a) the number of postal B1 claim forms for supplementary benefit that have to be sent back to the would-be claimant for further information, (b) the numbers of these which are not then returned and (c) the numbers of claimants who lose benefits because of the delay caused by the new postal claim system;
(2) whether he will make arrangements to monitor how many of the postal B1 supplementary benefit claim forms handed out at his Department's offices are filled in and sent to the relevant supplementary benefit office.
§ Mr. NewtonSuch questions form part of the monitoring carried out since the new procedure was introduced. I will write to the hon. Member when I have the results of the exercise, which should be available in April. There is however no reason to suppose that any claimants will lose benefits as a result of delay, provided that the form itself is returned within the three weeks allowed.