§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications for the disability living allowance have been received by his Department; 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 that were refused and (c) the number and percentage refused by grounds for refusal.
§ Mr. ScottThe total number of new claims received by 30 April 1992 was 130,262.
(i) Number (ii) As percentage of new claims decided per cent. Number of new claims decided1 29,453 Awards and refusals made on new claims Awards 17,562 59.6 Refusals 11,891 40.4 Grounds for refusal Disability conditions not satisfied 3,853 13.08 Other2 8,033 27.27 1 Excluding claims from people already in receipt of mobility allowance or attendance allowance. 2 Includes age and residence and presence conditions.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications have been received for the disability working allowance; and if he will provide a breakdown by(a) the number and percentage of these 182W that resulted in an award, (b) the number and percentage that were refused and (c) the number and percentage refused by grounds for refusal.
§ Mr. ScottDisability working allowance is a new benefit introduced in April for some disabled people who work but have limited earning capacity. Up to 8 May, 9,017 claims had been received. Of these, 588, or 6.5 per cent. resulted in an award and 7,188, or 79.7 per cent. were unsuccessful. The grounds for refusing benefit in the unsuccessful cases were as follows:
Number Per cent. Claimant not in remunerative work 4,230 58.8 Earnings above limit 471 6.6 No "qualifying" benefit 2,000 27.8 Claimant receiving family credit 173 2.4 Other reasons 314 4.4
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a breakdown by(a) average hourly earnings, (b) average hours worked, (c) average age, (d) sex, (e) type of disability and (f) qualifying benefit of (i) successful and (ii) unsuccessful applications received for disability working allowance.
§ Mr. ScottNot all the information is available. Such information as is available is in the table and is derived from a provisional analysis of the claims received up to 12 May.
Recipients Unsuccessful claims Average number of hours worked 29 Not available Average age 35 42 Sex-men 332 4,658 women 276 2,774 Qualifying benefits: Not available Invalidity benefit 60 Severe disablement allowance 32 Income support with disability premium 88 Housing benefit with disability premium 52 Disability living allowance 64 Mobility allowance, attendance Allowance and other benefits 492 Note: Customers may have more than one qualifying benefit.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the number and outcome of applications received for(a) the lower rate care component or (b) the lower rate mobility component of the disability living allowance broken down by (i) people previously in receipt of either attendance allowance or mobility allowance and (ii) people not previously in receipt of either of these two benefits.
§ Mr. ScottIn general, claims for disability living allowance are made for the benefit as a whole, rather than for individual rates of components—although customers may choose to supply details about only one of the two components if they wish. An adjudication officer then determines whether there is entitlement to the benefit and, if so, at which rate or rates.
Initial statistics show that by 30 April 1992 the number of people who were not previously in receipt of either mobility allowance or attendance allowance and had been awarded either one or both of the new lower rate components was 10,392. In addition, there were 183W respectively 4,786 lower rate mobility awards and 1,406 lower rate care awards made to people previously in receipt of attendance allowance and mobility allowance.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications for the mobility component of the disability living allowance were received in February, March and April 1992(a) from people aged 66 years or over and (b) in respect of children under five years of age; and how many applications for the mobility allowance were received in February, March and April 1991 (i) from people aged 66 years or over and (ii) in respect of children under five years of age.
§ Mr. ScottThe requested information about the number of applications received for the mobility component of disability living allowance is not available.
The number of claims for mobility allowance received in February, March and April 1991 from people aged 66 and over and in respect of children under five is in the table:
Month Number of claims February 1991 967 March 1991 1,084 April 1991 1,256 Total 3,307
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications for the care component of the disability living allowance have been received from people aged 66 years or over.
§ Mr. ScottIn general, claims for disability living allowance are made for the benefit as a whole, rather than for individual components—although customers may choose to supply details about only one of the two components if they wish. An adjudication officer then determines whether there is entitlement to the benefit and, if so, at which rate or rates. The information requested is not available.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what number and proportion of all applications for the disability living allowance were either(a) from a claimant who has requested a medical examination in preference to completing the self-assessment claim form or (b) where the adjudication officer has required a claimant to undergo a medical examination.
§ Mr. ScottThe information is not available in the form requested. However, as at 1 May 1992, out of a total of 29,453 disability living allowance claims decided, 1,305, or 4 per cent., included, as part of the evidence before the adjudication officer, a report by an examining medical practitioner.