§ Mrs. WiseTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how long it takes to process a claim by an under 18-year-old for income support on grounds of severe hardship.
§ Mr. JackMr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, has informed me that separate information about the processing of claims from under 18-year-olds on grounds of severe hardship is not available. However, the average clearance time for all income support claims was 3.1 days in October 1991. Claims from under l8-year-olds are given priority and a direction for income support under the severe hardship provision is made within 24 hours of the customer being interviewed in the local office.
Source: Benefits Agency management information systems database.