§ Mr. KaufmanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the reason for the delay in the case of the appeal to the social security appeal tribunal of Mr. N. Scott of 17 Elysdon drive, Gorton, Manchester, between the receipt of the adjudication officer's submission from his Department on 3 November 1988 and the receipt of Mr. Scott's letter of appeal by the tribunal on June 1988; and if he will take steps to ensure that no such delays occur in the future.
§ Mr. Peter Lloyd[holding answer 30 January 1989]: Mr. Scott's appeal was one of a considerable number of similar appeals prompted by a welfare rights take-up campaign. There was a delay in submitting the appeal to the social security appeal tribunal whilst the adjudication officer sought advice from the regional adjudication officer on how to prepare the appeal submission.
The flow of appeal submissions from the Department to the social security appeal tribunal will be affected when numbers dramatically rise as in the case of take-up campaigns. There has, however, been an improvement nationally in the time taken to process appeals. Latest statistics show that the national average time taken from the date of lodgment to the date of submission to the social security appeal tribunal is 18 days.