§ Ms. Ruddockasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what is the reason for the delay in supplying an order of his Department's invalid care allowance claim forms, supplementary benefit, mobility allowance and attendance claim forms and leaflets to Lewisham social services department; and what is the average time in which such orders are processed.
§ Mr. PortilloI understand that an order was dispatched to Lewisham on Monday 6 July. Over the past few months the demand for leaflets, particularly bulk orders, has been very high and remains at a high level. This increase in requests has affected the normal working of the leaflets unit and has created substantial delays, sometimes running into several weeks.
I am aware of the many problems this delay can cause. Discussions are currently taking place on various options to overcome these difficulties and include the option to use an outside agency to help clear the backlog of orders. As soon as a decision has been reached it will be implemented quickly.
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per cent. November July April 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 11986 11987 Basic pension 2 single person 11.4 19.5 16.5 9.0 11.0 3.7 5.1 7.0 1.0 2.1 married couple 11.4 19.6 16.5 9.0 11.0 3.7 5.1 7.0 1.0 2.1 Retail price index 8.1 17.4 15.3 12.0 6.3 4.8 4.9 5.5 1.7 4.4 Index of average earnings3 13.3 19.1 17.9 11.3 8.3 7.3 6.5 8.6 5.9 5.9