HC Deb 25 July 1985 vol 83 cc755-8W
Mr. Hargreaves

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what percentage of (a) mobility allowance claims and (b) attendance allowance claims succeed upon the first re-application and subsequent re-applications.

Mr. Newton

I assume that my hon. Friend is referring to fresh claims made on the termination of an existing award which was given for a limited period. The information requested for 1984 is as follows:

between one and two-parent families, between families with each of one, two, three and four or more dependent children and between recipients of each of the main national insurance benefits, including statutory sick pay, and in each case without supplementary benefit, and recipients of supplementary benefit.

Mr. Whitney

The latest information, which relates to 1981, is in the table:

(a)83.1 per cent.

(b)85.1 per cent.

It is not possible to distinguish between first renewal of an award and second and subsequent renewals.

Mr. Hargreaves

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claims were made for mobility allowance in the last three years; and what percentage succeeded without (a) the appeals procedure being used, (b) after the first stage of appeal and (c) after the second stage of appeal.

Mr. Newton

I regret that information is not available in the form requested. The information available is as follows. It relates to decisions given in the relevant years, not to the results of claims made in those years.

Claims Appeals
Number of claims Decided in claimant's favour Appeals and references decided by medical board Decided in claimant's favour Appeals decided by medical appeal tribunal Decided in claimants favour
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)
Number Col. (2) as a percentage of Col. (1) Number Col. (5) as a percentage of Col. (4) Number Col. (8) as a percentage of Col. (7)
1982 109,340 76,130 69.6 11,410 3,600 31.6 2,663 703 26
*(21,240) *(17,130) *(80.6)
1983 126,300 86,300 68.3 12,970 3,890 30.0 3,070 1,000 33
*(19,500) *(16,450) *(84.4)
1984 132,000 93,500 70.8 14,750 4,800 32.5 3,933 1,107 28
*(23,950) *(19,900) *(83.l)

Notes:

Cols. (1)–(3) Figures for renewal claims are shown separately in brackets marked * but included in the total.

Cols. (4)–(9) Figures include renewal claims.

Mr. Hargreaves

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many claims were made for attendance allowance in the last three years and what percentage succeeded (a) without the appeal procedure being used, (b) after the first stage of appeal and (c) after the second stage of appeal.

Mr. Newton

The information available relates to decisions given in the relevant years, not to the results of claims made in those years. Details of the number of decisions on attendance allowance made on initial applications in 1982 and 1983 are given in table 14.05 of Social Security Statistics 1984. The equivalent information for 1984 is as follows:

Numbers
Initial claims decided 239,804
First awards
Higher rate 67,445
Lower rate 114,325
Rejections 58,034

The percentage of initial decisions for 1982, 1983 and 1984 resulting in an award was 74.7, 73.4 and 75.8 respectively.

Appeals against disallowance because of failure to satisfy the medical conditions are made by requesting the Attendance Allowance Board to review the decision. There is no further right of appeal against the board's decision on the medical conditions. Details of review decisions in 1982 and 1983 (including reviews of existing awards where there has been a change in the beneficiary's circumstances) are given in table 14.22 of Social Security Statistics 1984.

The equivalent information for 1984 is as follows:

Numbers
Total decisions 33,374
Successful 23,184
Unsuccessful 10,190
Percentage
Success rate 69.5