HC Deb 03 December 1990 vol 182 cc6-7W
Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security for each year from 1979 what was the number of awards in payment for the mobility allowance; what was the number of reviews called for by(a) the recipient and (b) persons other than the recipient; what was the number of such reviews that led to the mobility allowance being withdrawn; and what was the number of such withdrawals as percentages of the number of allowances reviewed and of the total number of allowances in payment.

Mr. Scott

Information on the results of reviews called for by the mobility allowance recipient is not available. Nor is any information on reviews available prior to 1985. The remainder of the information requested is set out in the tables.

Year Number of awards in payment1
1979 137,000
1980 185,000
1981 211,000
1982 253,000
1983 302,000
1984 353,000
1985 406,000
1986 461,000
1987 512,000
1988 556,000
1989 599,000
1 Number of awards in payment current at year end. Figures include awards made under the vehicle scheme beneficiaries regulations.

Year Number of reviews called for by recipient Number of reviews called for by persons other than the recipient
1985 274 173
1986 433 228
1987 350 438
1988 379 412
1989 453 500

Outcome of reviews called for by persons other than the recipient
Number where Mob A withdrawn Withdrawn as percentage of reviews Withdrawn as percentage of awards
120 69.4 0.03
155 68.0 0.03
340 77.6 0.06
299 72.6 0.05
399 79.8 0.07

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security for each year from 1979 for(a) the attendance allowance at the higher rate and (b) the attendance allowance at the lower rate, what was the number of awards in payment; what was the number of reviews called for by (i) the recipient and (ii) persons other than the recipient; how many of each such reviews led to (1) the higher rate attendance allowance being replaced by the lower rate allowance and (2) the attendance allowance being withdrawn completely; what was the number of such reductions as percentages of the number of allowances reviewed and of the total number of allowances in payment; and what was the number of such complete withdrawals as percentages of the number of allowances reviewed and of the total number of allowances in payment.

Mr. Scott

The information requested is not available, but such information as is available is in the tables.

All decisions on review—Table 2
1 2 3 4 5 6
Year Successful1 Unsuccessful Total Column 3 as percentage of column 4 Column 3 as percentage of column 4 in Table 1
1979 12,536 4,275 16,811 25.4 1.5
1980 16,288 5,310 21,598 24.4 1.7
1981 14,849 5,967 20,816 28.7 1.7
1982 17,443 7,703 25,146 30.6 2.1
1983 19,819 10,024 29,843 33.6 2.4
1984 23,184 10,190 33,374 30.5 2.2
1985 30,252 10,943 41,195 26.6 2.0
1986 30,492 12,156 42,648 28.5 2.1
1987 44,104 14,169 58,273 24.3 2.2
1988 40,538 15,549 56,087 27.7 2.2
1989 45,778 20,796 66,574 31.2 2.7
1 A successful review is one where there is a resulting increase in benefit.

Mr. Ashley

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what events not set in train by a recipient trigger a review of the attendance and mobility allowances.

Mr. Scott

There may be a review at any time if there is evidence to suggest that a recipient's circumstances have changed.