§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the current weekly rate of application for each of the principal benefits at his Department's office at Kingsbury road, Erdington, Birmingham; and how this compares with the position one and two years ago.
§ Mr. MajorThe table shows the average weekly rate of claims made for principal benefits during October 1985, 1984 and 1983 at the Department's office in Erdington.
Benefit Average Weekly Claims October 1985 October 1984 October 1983 Sickness/invalidity benefit 56 56 65 Maternity allowance 21 13 28 Retirement pension 45 56 33 Widows benefit 5 5 5 Death grant 30 30 30 Industrial disablement benefit 6 5 4 Supplementary benefit 342 287 419
§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the number of current payments of each of the principal benefits being made at his Department's office at Kingsbury road, Erdington, Birmingham; and how this compares with the position one and two years ago.
§ Mr. MajorThe table shows the number of payments made to claimants by the Department's office in Erdington during the four week period ending 22 October 1985—the latest available figures—and for the same periods one and two years ago.
81W
1983 1984 1985 Long term benefits (retirement pension, widows benefit, disablement benefit and child benefit) Order books included in the figure for short term benefit order book issues. 207 included in the figure for short term order books issued. Girocheques included in the figure given for short-term benefit giros 5,263 1,792 Note:
1. Supplementary benefit payments do not include instructions issued to Unemployment Benefit offices to pay benefit on the Department's behalf.
2. Separate figures for short and long term benefit giro issues for 1983, and order books for 1983 and 1985 are not available.
3. It is not possible to provide a further breakdown of contributory benefit payments into the individual national insurance benefits paid by the local office.
§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is currently the average time taken by his Department's office at Kingsbury road, Erdington, Birmingham, to process new claims for single payments; and how this compares with the position one and two years ago.
§ Mr. MajorClaims for single payments are determined as soon as possible after all the information required has been collected. A limited sample of recent cases at Erdington local office suggests that on average, claims for single payments are currently being determined 8–9 days after their receipt.
Similar figures for 1984 and 1983 are not available.
§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is currently the average time taken to deal with new benefit claims from (a) householders and (b) non-householders at his Department's office at Kingsbury road, Erdington, Birmingham; and how this compares with the position one and two years ago.
§ Mr. MajorInformation is not broken down in the form requested. The latest available figures show that the average time taken to deal with all new supplementary benefit claims at the Department's office in Erdington is 11 days, as it was at the same time last year and the year before. The figures are not broken down between types of claim.
§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what changes, by grade and number, there have been in staffing at his Department's office at Kingsbury road, Erdington, Birmingham, compared with 1984 and 1983, including temporary staff.
§ Mr. MajorThe following table sets out staff in post by grade on 1 April for the last three years, and the situation on 1 November 1985.
82W
Grade 1.4.83 1.4.84 1.4.85 1.11.85 Principal 1 1 1 1 Senior Executive Officer 1 1 1 1 Higher Executive Officer 7 7 7 7 Local Officer 1 41 42 44 46.5 Local Officer 2 80 78 88 86 Clerical Assistant 29 28 30 29.5 Typist 3 3 3 4 Telephonist 1 1 1 1 Security Guard 2 1 2 2 Messenger 1 1 — 1 Total Permanent Staff) 166 163 177 179
Grade 1.4.83 1.4.84 1.4.85 1.11.85 Casual Staff (Clerical Assistants) 9 2 2 1
§ Mr. Corbettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he will estimate the number of current claimants of each of the principal benefits administered from his Department's offices at Kingsbury road, Erdington, Birmingham, and Walsall road, Birmingham, who live in the Erdington parliamentary constituency; and how this compares with the position one, two and five years ago.
§ Mr. MajorThe Erdington constituency is covered for social security purposes by two of the Department's offices but their boundaries are not conterminous with those of the constituency. The number of claimants receiving supplementary benefits from these offices in July 1985—the latest available figures—and at the same period one and two years ago were:
1983 1984 1985 Birmingham, Erdington 15,733 16,293 17,280 Birmingham, Perry Barr 11,246 11,284 11,449 No information is available for the position 5 years ago. Details of claimants receiving national insurance benefits are not available in the form requested.