§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) for each of the past five years how many applicants who were claiming mobility allowance succeeded in their claim on their first application;
(2) how many claims for mobility allowance have been made for each of the past five years;
(3) in each of the past five years how many claims for mobility allowance in England and Wales have been made by or on behalf of physically handicapped people;
(4) over each of the past five years what was the average time required for each stage of a mobility allowance claim (physically and mentally handicapped) to be processed;
(5) how many applicants who claimed for mobility allowance did not appeal after an initial refusal during each of the past five years;
(6) how many applicants succeeded in their claims for a mobility allowance after an appeal to the Medical Board in each of the last five years;
(7) how many applicants succeeded in their claims for a mobility allowance after an appeal to the Medical Appeal Tribunal over each of the past five years;
(8) what guidance is given to the doctors who make assessments for mobility allowance;
(9) what proportion of applications for mobility allowance are successful, broken down by city or region in each of the last five years;
(10) how many claims for mobility allowance have been made by or on behalf of mentally handicapped people for each of the past five years.
§ Mr. Newton[pursuant to his reply, 12 November 1984, c. 143–44]: I regret that information is not available in the form requested. The information available for Great Britain is as follows. All figures relate to decisions given in the relevant years, not to the results of claims made in those years. It is not possible to provide separate figures by nature of disability or by region.
§ Mr. Newton[pursuant to his reply, 12 November 1984, c. 143–44.]: The information is as follows: 203W
Average time in weeks †1980 †1981 †1982 †1983 ‡1984 Overall processing time 13.2 18.8 16.4 11.8 10 Receipt of claim to despatch to regional office for medical examination * * 2.6 2 1.2 Obtaining examining medical practitioner's report * * 6 4.2 4.6 Processing at mobility allowance unit * * 5.8 3.6 2.2 Determination of claim to receipt of payment (where appropriate) 2 2 2 2 2 * Separate figures are not available by stages prior to 1982. † Quarter ending December. ‡ Four-week period ending 2 November.
§ Mr. Sheermanasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what guidance is given to the doctors who make assessments for mobility allowance.
§ Mr. Newton[pursuant to his reply, 12 November 1984, c. 143–44.]: The guidance is published in leaflet NI 213 "Mobility Allowance, Notes for Medical Practitioners", copies of which are in the Library.