§ Mrs. Beckettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the average time taken between receipt of a claim for attendance allowance and the issue of an order book (a) when the allowance is awarded on the initial application and (b) when it is awarded after a review.
§ Mr. Newton(a) Eight and a half weeks; and (b) fifteen and a half weeks.
§ Mrs. Beckettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many people were receiving (a) the higher rate and (b) the lower rate of attendance allowance at the latest date for which figures are available; how these figures break down between (i) the standard age groups and (ii) the social security regions; and what are the rates per 1,000 of population both nationally and in each region.
§ Mr. NewtonThe available information is in the following tables. I regret that information is not available to provide a regional breakdown of attendance allowance recipients.
Attendance Allowance Current at 31 March 1985* England Scotland Wales Great Britain Higher rate Age 2–15 20,497 1,895 1,605 23,997
Attendance allowance current at 31 March 1985* expressed at a rate per thousand of the population Higher rate Lower rate Number in receipt† Rate per 1,000 population Number in receipt† Rate per 1,000 population England 186,000 3.7 271,000 5.4 Scotland 17,000 3.2 27,000 5.3 Wales 19,000 6.9 23,000 8.0 Great Britain 222,000 3.8 321,000 5.8 * Estimates at 31 March 1985, the latest date for which information is available. † Estimates rounded to the nearest 1,000.
§ Mrs. Beckettasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the breakdown of (a) attendance allowance awards in 1985 and (b) the number of people in receipt of attendance allowance at the latest available date, in terms of the length of time for which the award was made.
§ Mr. Newton(a) The information is given in the table. (b) This information is not collected.
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Attendance allowance: duration of certificates—awards* 1985 Duration of award (years) Higher rate awards Lower rate awards Less than one 591 1,097 One less than two 7,923 12,574
England Scotland Wales Great Britain 16–19 4,677 480 385 5,542 20–24 4,251 424 401 5,076 25–29 3,343 427 314 4,084 30–34 3,088 376 319 3,783 35–39 3,617 423 377 4,417 40–44 3,572 415 379 4,366 45–49 3,545 501 433 4,479 50–54 5,394 536 642 6,572 55–59 7,717 806 795 9,318 60–64 11,067 1,085 1,566 13,718 65–69 12,394 1,069 1,702 15,164 70–74 17,655 1,742 2,389 21,796 75–79 22,510 1,680 2,414 26,603 80–84 24,814 1,924 2,530 29,267 +85 38,091 2,921 3,136 44,147 Total 186,242 16,704 19,387 222,329 Lower rate Age 2–15 30,365 3,560 1,873 35,798 16–19 7,697 1,055 491 9,243 20–24 9,055 1,173 577 10,805 25–29 6,798 902 479 8,179 30–34 5,647 767 423 6,837 35–39 5,840 798 495 7,133 40–44 5,139 697 441 6,277 45–49 5,346 796 486 6,628 50–54 6,898 819 653 8,370 55–59 9,842 1,180 964 11,986 60–64 15,595 1,812 1,586 18,993 65–69 17,977 1,747 1,787 21,511 70–74 25,809 2,348 2,140 30,296 75–79 32,435 3,195 2,618 38,247 80–84 35,718 2,407 3,346 41,470 +85 50,941 3,860 3,932 58,733 Total 271,102 27,116 22,291 320,506 Grand Total 457,344 43,820 41,678 542,835
Duration of award (years) Higher rate awards Lower rate awards Two less than three 12,388 18,343 Three less than four 4,417 6,369 Four less than five 1,319 2,572 Five and over 5,243 9,615 Life 67,628 101,524 Total 99,529 152,094 * Includes awards made on initial and renewal applications.