§ Ms. WalleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set up an emergency office in Stoke on Trent North to deal with outstanding disability living allowance and attendance allowance applications.
§ Mr. ScottThe administration of disability living allowance and attendance allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Michael Bichard to Ms. Joan Walley, dated 2 December 1992:
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about setting up an emergency office in Stoke on Trent North to deal with Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA) claims.There are no plans to set up an emergency office in Stoke on Trent. New claims to DLA and AA are dealt with by ten Disability Benefit Centres (DBCs) around the country. All claims from the Stoke on Trent area are dealt with by the DBC in Birmingham.My letter of 19 October to all MPs outlined the measures that were implemented to deal with the backlog of claims successfully. We are of course closely monitoring the effectiveness of the procedures and organisation in place for DLA. As with all new benefits, procedures and organisation will be reviewed and I can assure you that every opportunity will be taken to identify new initiatives to speed up processing times.I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.