§ 22. Mr. SkinnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to clear up the backlog of claims for disability living allowance; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. ScottClaim levels for disability living allowance have stabilised and work on hand has now reduced to normal levels.
I have expressed my regret for the delays which occurred following the introduction of disability living allowance, which was a massive task, resulting in over one million claims to disability living allowance and attendence allowance within a period of 10 months.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many staff have been allocated to the home visiting service; and how many home visits by Benefits Agency staff in connection with disability living allowance and attendance allowance have been made to date since February 1992 in total and by disability benefit centre;
(2) how many claims to date for the disability living allowance have been completed (a) with the assistance of telephone calls and (b) with the assistance of visits made by the forms completion service staff in the disability benefits centre.
99W
§ 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 Michael Bichard to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 15 January 1993:
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 Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security.You asked about the number of staff allocated to the home visiting service, and how many home visits by Benefits Agency staff in connection with Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Attendance Allowance (AA) have been made to date since February 1992 in total and by Disability Benefit Centre. You also asked how many claims have been completed with the assistance of telephone calls and with the assistance of visits made by the forms completion staff in the Disability Benefit Centres (DBCs).The staff in the Customer Service Sections of the DBCs are involved in general duties to help customers, including forms completion work for both benefits. This may involve telephoning the customer to help in completing a claim form or it may involve a visit. There are around 200 Customer Service staff in the DBCs whose duties would include home visits. Since February 1992 to the end of December, over 2,500 home visits have been made to assist in the completion of claim forms. Over 63,000 DLA and AA claims have been completed with the assistance of telephone calls. The number of visits made by each DBC is shown below.
Number Midlands 394 Leeds 609 Wembley 181 Bristol 9 Manchester 38 Edinburgh 50 Newcastle 75 Cardiff 37 Bootle 729 Sutton 390 I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report. A copy will also be placed in the Library.