HC Deb 17 December 1992 vol 216 cc366-7W
Mr. Hanson

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claimants are currently waiting longer than two months for their application for disability living allowance to be processed; what is the average length of wait for a disability living allowance application to be processed; how many people had to resubmit their application because the disability living allowance office has lost their claim forms in the latest convenient period; and how many people are employed at the disability living allowance office to track down lost or mislaid claim forms.

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 with such information as is available and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from M. Bichard to Mr. David Hanson, dated 16 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. You asked how many claimants are currently waiting longer than two months for their application for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to be processed; what is the average length of wait for a DLA application to be processed; how many people had to resubmit their application because the DLA office has lost their claim forms; and how many people are employed at the DLA office to track down lost or mislaid claim forms. Information about the number of people who have been waiting two months for their claim to DLA is not routinely gathered and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The same applies to the number of people who have submitted a duplicate DLA claim because the original had been mislaid. I explained in my letter of 19 October to all MPs the strenuous and successful efforts that have been made to clear the backlog of claims. Procedures are now running more smoothly and the number of occasions when papers cannot be found has been significantly reduced. On the question of the average length of time taken to process a DLA claim I should explain that the Benefits Agency introduced a standard performance measure across benefits some time ago. This is expressed in terms of clearance targets instead of average clearance times as was previously the case. For information on the Agency's performance in this area I refer you to my reply of 11 December to the honourable Member for Newham North East (Mr. Leighton) at column 73 (Official Report 14 December 1992). You also asked how many people are employed at the DLA Unit to track down lost or missing files. There are currently thirty staff at the office in Blackpool whose job it is to track down missing paperwork. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. A copy is also being placed in the Library.

Mr. Blunkett

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what criteria are employed in the selection of medical practitioners to sit on disability appeals tribunals dealing with contested applications for disability living allowance.

Mr. Scott

Responsibility for the administration of disability appeal tribunals lies with the president of the independent tribunal service, His Honour Judge Thorpe. The hon. Member may wish to contact his office direct to obtain this information.