HC Deb 14 December 1992 vol 216 cc72-4W
Mr. Mike OBrien

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to extend the disability premium to means-tested benefits to people who are registered as partially sighted.

Mr. Scott

We have no such plans. The disability premium in income support, housing benefit and community charge benefit is available to partially sighted people on the same basis as other long-term sick and disabled people.

Mr. Mike OBrien

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what definition his Department uses of bodily functions for the purpose of the award of disability living allowance and attendance allowance.

Mr. Scott

Bodily functions are defined in a decision of the Court of Appeal published as an appendix to a reported decision of a national insurance commissioner (decision R(A)2/80).

The Chief Adjudication Officer has advised that the list is not exhaustive and that adjudication officers, who decide individual claims to benefit, should use their own judgment in each case.

Mr. Hardy

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will reconsider the proposed change in the arrangements for claims in respect of service-related disability allowance so that claims involving disablement of below 20 per cent. will not be rejected.

Miss Widdecombe

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 12 November proposals to introduce a threshold for claims for war pension in respect of noise-induced hearing loss so that no award would be made where disablement was less than 20 per cent. It is proposed also to use savings from that change to remove rank differentials in war disablement pensions by moving everyone up to the rate for officers; this would benefit nearly 200,000 war disablement pensioners who would gain up to £5 a week.

These proposals have been discussed with the Central Advisory Committee on War Pensions chaired by my noble Friend Lord Henley. We have been considering the proposals following that consultation and will make an announcement shortly.

Mr. Leighton

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his target for reducing the time that disability living allowance and attendance allowance claims are taking from the date of initial application to the date the claimant is notified of a successful award.

Mr. Scott

The 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 M. Bichard to Mr. Ron Leighton, dated 11 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 asking what is the target for reducing the time that Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA) claims are taking from the date of initial application to the date the claimant is notified of a successful award. The Benefits Agency introduced a standard performance measure across benefits some time ago. This is expressed in terms of clearance targets rather than average clearance times as was previously the case. The term "clearance" refers to the number of decisions made. As I explained in my letter of 19 October to all MPs the success of the advertising campaign and the policy initiatives surrounding the launch of the benefits attracted a much larger number of applications in the early stages than was expected. The resulting backlog of new DLA and AA claims was successfully tackled following implementation of the remedial measures described in my letter and Disability Benefit Centres are now well within sight of achieving their targets. I should explain that the primary target set for the clearance of new DLA claims is 60 per cent. of claims to be cleared in 30 days and for AA, 60 per cent. to be cleared in 35 days. At the end of November 1992 55 per cent. of new DLA claims were being cleared in 30 days and 53 per cent. of new AA claims cleared in 35 days. Progress towards fully achieving these targets continues and we expect to meet them shortly. I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report. A copy is also being placed in the Library.

Mr. Winnick

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what grade of official replies to hon. Members regarding the disability living allowance; once a decision is reached on a case, how soon a written response is made to hon. Members; and what guidance is given to officials dealing with cases referred by hon. Members over replying to hon. Members.

Mr. Scott

The administration of disability living 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 M. Bichard to Mr. David Winnick, dated 11 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 concerning the grade of officials replying to honourable Members regarding Disability Living Allowance (DLA) once a decision has been given; how soon a written response is made and what guidance is given to officials replying to honourable Members. Letters from Members of Parliament (MPs) about DLA addressed to the DLA Unit at Fylde are answered by officials not below the grade of Executive Officer and a number of replies are subject to a check at the level of Higher Executive Officer. Senior managers are consulted on any case which involves an uncommon or sensitive issue. Once a decision is given on a claim involved in such an enquiry from an MP, the DLA Unit aims to provide a written reply within 48 hours. Officials involved in written replies are given training in drafting skills and there are written guidelines on drafting technique. Detailed information to be included in the reply is obtained from the relevant operational area. I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report. A copy will also be placed in the Library.