§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security where an initial claim for benefit from a 16 or 17-year-old is referred to the special hardship claim unit, what is the average delay between the initial claim being made at the benefit office and referral to the unit; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. JackI understand from the chief executive of the Benefits Agency that the information is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, a young person who calls at a Benefits Agency office, and who needs to be interviewed to establish whether income support can be paid, should be interviewed in private on the day that he or she calls, and immediately the interview is completed, the details of the claim are referred by telephone to the severe hardship claims unit. A decision on whether benefit can be awarded is given immediately by the unit where all the necessary information is available and 100 per cent. of cases are cleared within 24 hours of referral. The MORI report shows that of those young people awarded income support under severe hardship provisions 28 per cent. received money on the same day and an additional 37 per cent. received payment within a few days.
If a young person claims by post and cannot be interviewed within 48 hours of the time that the claim was received, for example, because there are delays in contacting the customer, the case must be referred to the assistant manager in the district who has personal responsibility for the quick and effective handling of such claims.
§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what proportion of claimants who made successful or unsuccessful claims for special hardship payments were represented by an adviser; and what research his Department has commissioned into this matter.
§ Mr. JackThe information requested is not routinely collected. However, the research commissioned by this Department from MORI—"A Survey of 16 and 17 Year Old Applicants for Severe Hardship Payments"—found that 46 per cent. of all respondents were accompanied by someone when claiming. There was no statistically significant difference in the outcome of the claim between those who were accompanied and those who were not.