§ Mrs. Helen JacksonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 29 June,Official Report, column 428, to the hon. Member for Harwich, (Mr. Sproat) about appeals against disability living allowance decisions, if he will make a statement on the factors which account for the delay in resolving the appeal of the constituent of the hon. Member for Sheffield, Hillsborough, Ref. YR691 179c.
§ Miss WiddecombeAn appeal to the social security commissioner was made by the hon. Member's constituent on 18 November 1991 and leave to appeal was granted by the commissioner on 23 January 1992. A submission by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State was sent to the office of the social security commissioners on 19 February 1992 and the appeal is now awaiting a date for hearing. Hearings by the social security commissioners are a matter for my noble Friend, the Lord Chancellor.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the. Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many people with learning difficulties have been awarded the lower rate of the mobility component of the disability living allowance;
(2) how many people with visual impairments have been awarded (a) the lower rate care or (b) the lower rate mobility component of the disability living allowance;
(3) how many awards of the higher rate mobility components made since 3 February were made (a) on the grounds that the person was severely mentally impaired and displayed severe behavioural problems and (b) under the deaf-blind provisions;
§ Miss WiddecombeThe latest available figure for the number of people awarded the higher rate mobility component on the grounds of severe mental impairment is 116. The other information is not yet available.
§ Mr. Flynn'To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a breakdown of the numbers awarded the disability living allowance to date by(a) those awarded the higher rate of the care component, (b) those awarded the middle rate of the care component, (c) 450W those awarded the lower rate of the care component, (d) those awarded the higher rate of mobility component and (e) those awarded the lower rate of the mobility component.
§ Miss WiddecombeThe latest available figures for components awarded on new claims and top-up claims, including claims made on the grounds of terminal illness, are as follows:
Numbers Highest rate of the care component 8,700 Middle rate of the care component 9,900 Lowest rate of the care component 27,800 Higher rate of the mobility component 24,400 Lower rate of the mobility component 31,600 There is some overlap the categories because some new claims result in dual awards of both a care and mobility component.
§ Mr.FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many requests for a review of an adjudication officer's decision on attendance allowance and mobility allowance received by his Department prior to 3 February remain outstanding; how many have been decided: and how many, and what percentage, of reviews decided resulted in the award of the lower rate of disability living allowance.
§ Miss WiddecombeI understand from Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, that the information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a breakdown of successful disability working allowance applicants by(a) people already working and (b) people who started working shortly before making an application for benefit.
§ Miss WiddecombeUp to 30 June the number of successful applications for disability working allowance was 1,130. Of these we estimate that about 5 per cent. started work as employees in the week of the claim.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a breakdown of successful disability working allowance applicants by(a) average hourly earnings, (b) average hours worked, (c) average age, (d) sex, (e) marital status, (f) householder status and (g) qualifying benefit.
§ Miss WiddecombeInformation on the householder status of applicants is not available. The table provides estimated figures derived from a provisional analysis of claims up to 31 May.
451W
Successful claims Average hourly earnings £3.12 Average hours worked a week 29.8 Average age 36 Number of awards to men 468 Number of awards to women 357 Number of awards to single people 536 Number of awards to couples 289 Householder status not available Qualifying benefits: Invalidity benefit 80
Successful claims Severe disablement allowance 43 Income support with disability premium 118 Housing benefit with disability premium 70 Disability living allowance 86 Attendance allowance and other benefits 659 NOTE: Customers may have more than one qualifying benefit.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many people claiming the disability living allowance had help completing their claim forms either(a) from the telephone claims completion service of a regional disability benefits centre or (b) from his Department's visiting service;
(2) how many applications for the disability living allowance have been received by his Department to date; and if he will provide a breakdown by (a) the number and percentage of these that resulted in an award, (b) the number and percentage of these that were refused broken down by grounds for refusal and (c) the number and percentage of these that are awaiting a decision;
(3) what is his Department's policy regarding the notification of income support, housing benefit and community charge departments when someone is awarded the disability living allowance; and whether such notification distinguishes between the mobility and care component and the rate of these components, respectively;
(4) how many applications for the disability working allowance have been received by his Department to date; and if he will provide a breakdown by (a) the number and percentage of these that resulted in an award, (b) the number and percentage of these that were refused and (c) the number and percentage of these that are awaiting a decision;
(5) if he will provide a breakdown by number and percentage of the total number of claims for disability working allowance received by his Department that were refused on the grounds that (a) the claimant was not in remunerative work, (b) the claimant's income was above the limit, (c) the claimant was not in receipt of a qualifying benefit, (d) the claimant was receiving family credit, (e) the joint income of the claimant and his or her partner exceeded the limit, (f) the claimant was working less than 16 hours a week or (g) for other reasons;
(6) how many claims for disability living allowance included a report by an examining medical practitioner; and if he will break this down by (a) the number and percentage of successful claims, (b) the number and percentage of unsuccessful claims and (c) the number and percentage of cases where the claimant had already completed the self-assessment application form;
(7) how many requests for reviews of disability living allowance have been received by his Department breaking these down by (a) numbers seeking a review of a decision to refuse benefit and (b) numbers seeking a review of the rate of benefit awarded; and if he will provide a breakdown of this total by (i) successful reviews, (ii) unsuccessful reviews and (iii) reviews not yet decided.
§ Miss WiddecombeThe 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 copies will be placed in the Library and the Public Information Office.