§ Ms. CorstonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what steps he is taking to establish more reliable estimates of the number of people who may be eligible to claim(a) the disability living allowance and (b) the disability working allowance;
(2) what is the latest information he has on the levels of income and severity of disablement of (a) invalidity benefit recipients, (b) recipients of disability living allowance and (c) recipients of other forms of disability benefit.
(3) what steps he is taking to improve information about the incomes received and the incomes needed by those aplying for, and receiving, the disability living allowance and the disability working allowance, as part of the evience required to assess the success of targeting.
§ Mr. ScottInformation on the income of disability benefit claimants is not generally available from administrative sources, as, apart from the disability working allowance which is income-related, this informa-tion is not required to make a decision on the claim. Some information on income levels is available from surveys such as the family expenditure survey (FES). For example, the 1989 survey shows the average gross income of a benefit unit with at least one invalidity benefit recipient was £155, but FES information is not reliable for other
916WI hope this reply is helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Library. Copies are also being placed in the Library.
Appendix 1 Outstanding claims from Lea-Roding district Benefit Claims outstanding at 30 September 1992 Sickness and invalidity benefit 286 Maternity benefit 54 Severe disablement allowance 89 Widows benefit 89 Income support 822 Social fund applications 490 disability benefits. The family resources survey, announced in July 1992, will have a larger sample size than the FES and will provide better information in due course. The latest and most reliable information about levels of severity of disablement is contained in the reports of the surveys of disabled people carried out by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys between 1985 and 1988. Our monitoring of disability living allowance and disability working allowance will produce more information.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy to offer compensation to claimants of disability living and working allowances whose claims are not dealt with within the target periods set by his Department.
§ Mr. ScottThe administration of disability living allowance and disability working 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 Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. Dafydd Wigley, dated 29 October 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 917W Social Security a bout compensation payments to claimants of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Disability Working Allowance (DWA) whose claims are not dealt with within the target periods.My letter of 19 October to all MPs set out the action we are taking to resolve the time it takes to clear the backlog of DLA cases. The action taken has been comprehensive and the effect has been to reduce substantially the claims outstanding.For DWA, I should explain that there is no backlog of cases waiting to be dealt with. To date there are 18 cases waiting for initial action and just under 500 cases where the adjudication officer is waiting for further information before a decision can be made.You asked whether we will make it our policy to offer compensation. The present rules are that compensation can only be considered where, exceptionally, a claim for benefit takes longer than 12 months to process; or in the case of an existing award, there is an interruption in payment of 3 months or more.I recognise that delays are unacceptable at any stage, but you will appreciate that given the length of time which must elapse before compensation can be paid, few cases will in fact be eligible.I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he is taking to overcome the backlog with regard to processing applications for mobility allowance and attendance allowance, both under the previous schemes and under the new disability living allowance scheme; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ScottThe administration of disability benefits is a matter for Mr. Michael Birchard, 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 Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. Dafydd Wigley, dated 29 October 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 what steps he is taking to overcome the backlog with regard to processing applications for Mobility Allowance (MobA) and Attendance Allowance (AA), both under the previous schemes and under the new Disability Living Allowance (DLA) scheme.Various initiatives have been instigated in order to clear the backlog of claims. These include;setting up a senior management task force chaired by me, to oversee the recovery programme;increasing the number of staff devoted to handling claims by over 800—an increase of approximately 25 per cent.;sanctioning overtime in all Disability Benefit Centres and Units—equivalent to a further 250 more staff;establishing, staffing and equipping additional processing units in Preston, Newcastle, Wembly and Manchester to handle new and renewal claims and so relieve some pressures on existing units and increase output;conducting a detailed and thorough review of our procedures and organisation to further speed up the process wherever possible.The full extent of the initiatives we have introduced was outlined in my letter to all MPs on 19 October.The measures we have in hand have brought about a reduction in the number of claims outstanding and will continue to do so.I hope you will find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many letters he has received from hon.
918WMembers during the past three months complaining about the slowness of processing applications for disability allowance, attendance allowance and disability living allowance; and if he will make a statement.
§ 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 Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. Dafydd Wigley, dated 29 October 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 how many letters he has received from Honourable Members during the past three months complaining about the slowness of processing applications for Disability Allowance, Attendance Allowance (AA) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA).The number of complaints recorded for July to September, inclusive, are as follows:
AA 65+ DLA 145 1,896
My letter dated 19 October to all MPs set out the action we are taking to reduce the backlog of cases. These measures, together with the increasing confidence and experience of staff, resulted in a substantial improvement in the speed of claims processing.By September, monthly output on claims to DLA (from new and existing AA and Mobility Allowance customers) and AA had risen to 152,000 compared with 65,000 claims cleared in May.In the period February to the end of September we had processed a total of 711,000 AA, DLA and "top-up" claims of which 617,000 were processed under the new self assessment procedures, about 80% of which were determined without the need for a medical examination.Significant inroads have been made into the backlog of claims and I am now confident that we will have reached a steady state shortly for new claims to DLA and AA, and by the end of November for "top-up" claims from people who were already receiving either AA or Mobility Allowance.I hope you will find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.
§ Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average time taken to reassess income support levels per person for young disabled people aged 16 or 17 years embarking on a youth training placement; and if he will make it his policy to issue guidelines to benefit providers including time scale targets for achieving such reassessments.
§ Mr. BurtThe administration of income support 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 Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. Dafydd Wigley, dated 29 October 1992:
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational.919Wmatters. 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 average time taken to reassess Income Support levels per person for young disabled people aged 16 or 17 years embarking on a Youth Training placement; and if he will make it his policy to issue guidelines to benefit providers including timescale targets for achieving such reassessments.The reassessment of such claims are undertaken on the same basis as Income Support customers in general.National clearance targets for the reassessment of Income Support claims are already in place. These are outlined below.I should explain that the average time is obtained from statistics available from the Income Support Management Information System. It takes account of the actual time taken between receipt of the notification of the change of circumstances and the date of adjudication.
Targets Achievement—year to date 65% clearance within 2 days 88% cleared within 2 days 95% clearance within 5 days 93% cleared within 5 days I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.
§ Mr. MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what territory is covered by the Wales and central England terrorial office of the Department of Social Security Benefits Agency disability living allowance unit, Government Buildings, Gabalfa, Cardiff.
§ Mr. ScottThe 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 Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. Rhodri Morgan, dated 29 October 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 territory is covered by the Benefits Agency Office in Cardiff dealing with Disability Living Allowance (DLA).New claims to DLA are administered by ten Disability Benefit Centres (DBCs) around the country, each one dealing with large areas. The DBC in Government Buildings, Gabalfa, Cardiff is responsible for all the new claims from customers in Wales.I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.