HC Deb 16 June 1993 vol 226 cc622-35W
Mr. Flynn

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many(a) new disability living allowance claims and (b) top-up claims have been refused, broken down by the reasons for refusal, in each month since February 1992 at each disability benefit centre and for the country as a whole.

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 and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 15 June 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 Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking how many (a) new disability living allowance claims and (b) top-up claims have been refused, broken down by the reasons for refusal, in each month since February 1992 at each disability benefit centre and for the country as a whole.

Firstly, it may be helpful for me to say at this stage that new Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claims are dealt with by the regional Disability Benefit Centres (DBCs) and top-up claims are dealt with by the Claims Conversion Unit (CCU).

Annex A shows a breakdown of the number of DLA claims that have been refused, and the reasons for refusal by DBC since February 1992.

A breakdown of refusals on top-up claims by DBC is not available. However, Annex B details the number of top-up claims that have been refused by the CCU, and the reasons for refusal.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.

Annex A: Refusals on new claims for DLA by DBC February 1992
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 5 0 32 0 37
Newcastle 57 0 35 0 92
Leeds 19 0 54 0 73
Manchester 10 0 32 0 42
Bootle 3 0 34 0 37
Birmingham 17 0 16 0 33
Bristol 7 0 26 0 33
Cardiff 11 0 13 0 24
Wembley 33 0 61 0 94
Sutton 21 0 56 0 77
Glasgow — — — — —
Dlau Warbreck House 1 0 3 0 4
Other MUs — — — — —
Great Britain 184 0 362 0 546

March 1992
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 206 0 122 0 328
Newcastle 498 0 179 0 677
Leeds 282 0 334 0 616
Manchester 239 0 146 0 385
Bootle 129 0 141 0 270
Birmingham 194 0 1 0 195
Bristol 171 0 157 0 328
Cardiff 194 0 128 0 322
Wembley 263 1 374 0 638
Sutton 406 1 368 0 775
Glasgow — — — — —
Dlau Warbreck House 3 0 17 0 20
Other MUs — — — — —
Great Britain 2,585 2 1,967 0 4,554

Annex A: Refusals on new claims for DLA by DBC April 1992
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 412 0 87 0 499
Newcastle 1,263 1 134 0 1,398
Leeds 459 0 207 0 666
Manchester 715 0 138 0 853
Bootle 280 0 120 0 400
Birmingham 225 0 58 0 283
Bristol 330 0 141 0 471
Cardiff 254 0 86 0 340
Wembley 695 3 305 0 1,003
Sutton 628 0 237 0 865
Glasgow — — — — —
Dlau Warbreck House 8 0 5 0 13
Other MUs — — — — —
Great Britain 5,269 4 1,518 0 6,791

May 1992
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 552 1 107 0 660
Newcastle 1,087 0 64 0 1,151
Leeds 631 0 156 0 787
Manchester 810 0 126 0 936

Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Bootle 528 1 73 2 604
Birmingham 356 0 161 0 517
Bristol 340 0 143 2 485
Cardiff 641 0 110 2 753
Wembley 704 1 163 1 869
Sutton 404 2 149 0 555
Glasgow — — — — —
Dlau Warbreack House 3 0 9 1 13
Other MUs — — — — —
Great Britain 6,056 5 1,261 8 7,330

Annex A: Refusals on new claims for DLA by DBC June 1992
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 928 0 298 3 1,229
Newcastle 1,002 0 77 0 1,079
Leeds 1,661 2 159 2 1,824
Manchester 1,114 1 104 3 1,222
Bootle 657 0 130 0 787
Birmingham 978 1 201 0 1,180
Bristol 559 0 135 0 694
Cardiff 801 0 170 0 971
Wembley 895 3 180 0 1,078
Sutton 843 4 168 4 1,019
Glasgow — — — — —
Dlau Warbreck House 31 0 75 0 106
Other MUs — — — — —
Great Britain 9,469 11 1,697 12 11,189

July 1992
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 1,979 2 253 5 2,239
Newcastle 1,450 1 67 1 1,519
Leeds 1,579 3 151 2 1,735
Manchester 1,864 2 93 3 1,962
Bootle 1,071 0 141 3 1,215
Birmingham 1,296 1 338 0 1,635
Bristol 872 0 81 1 954
Cardiff 1,345 0 129 1 1,475
Wembley 1,431 5 229 1 1,666
Sutton 2,333 11 192 14 2,550
Glasgow — — — — —
Dlau Warbreck House 105 0 91 1 197
Other MUs — — — — —
Great Britain 15,235 25 1,765 32 17,147

Annex A: Refusals on new claims for DLA by DBC August 1992
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 1,086 2 195 2 1,285
Newcastle 1,253 2 51 0 1,306
Leeds 1,864 6 117 1 1,988
Manchester 2,838 5 117 2 2,962
Bootle 1,567 0 111 1 1,679
Birmingham 1,423 3 305 2 1,733
Bristol 895 4 68 2 969
Cardiff 1,396 1 68 1 1,466
Wembley 1,449 5 194 4 1,652

Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Sutton 1,717 17 141 4 1,879
Glasgow — — — — —
DLAU Warbreck House 180 1 76 3 260
Other MUs — — — — —
Great Britain 15,668 46 1,443 22 17,179

September 1992
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 2,020 0 206 4 2,230
Newcastle 1,505 0 73 0 1,578
Leeds 2,123 6 146 5 2,280
Manchester 2,343 10 111 0 2,464
Bootle 1,774 3 95 1 1,873
Birmingham 2,918 3 265 6 3,192
Bristol 1,115 5 78 6 1,204
Cardiff 2,227 2 147 0 2,376
Wembley 1,964 11 242 8 2,225
Sutton 1,539 4 179 3 1,725
Glasgow — — — — —
DLAU Warbreck House 190 1 78 2 271
Other MUs — — — — —
Great Britain 19,718 45 1,620 35 21,418

Annex A: Refusals on new claims for DLA by DBC October 1992
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 4,316 3 193 6 4,518
Newcastle 1,194 2 58 1 1,255
Leeds 2,270 10 118 1 2,399
Manchester 2,051 5 90 3 2,149
Bootle 2,034 2 107 0 2,143
Birmingham 3,473 12 255 5 3,745
Bristol 1,102 4 83 5 1,194
Cardiff 1,423 4 116 2 1,545
Wembley 1,960 22 153 2 2,137
Sutton 1,578 4 164 8 1,754
Glasgow — — — — —
Dlau Warbreck House 520 2 97 4 623
Other M Us — — — — —
Great Britain 21,921 70 1,434 37 23,462

November 1992
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 2,618 11 154 6 2,789
Newcastle 1,239 2 67 1 1,309
Leeds 1,781 4 107 1 1,893
Manchester 1,780 4 102 1 1,887
Bootle 1,287 2 119 4 1,412
Birmingham 2,412 8 224 4 2,648
Bristol 549 4 100 0 653
Cardiff 969 1 63 0 1,033
Wembley 1,395 16 140 3 1,554
Sutton 1,216 5 145 5 1,373
Glasgow — — — — —
Dlau Warbreck House 394 1 63 3 461
Other MUs — — — — —

Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Great Britain 15,642 58 1,284 28 17,012

Annex A: Refusals on new claims for DLA by DBC December 1992
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 2,853 2 161 5 3,021
Newcastle 786 0 33 0 819
Leeds 1,870 6 88 2 1,966
Manchester 1,121 8 70 2 1,201
Bootle 1,048 5 79 0 1,132
Birmingham 2,149 18 167 8 2,342
Bristol 666 5 43 0 714
Cardiff 1,009 2 70 0 1,081
Wembley 1,083 8 87 3 1,181
Sutton 1,165 5 105 2 1,277
Glasgow — — — — —
DLAU Warbeck House 535 3 45 2 585
Other MUs — — — — —
Great Britain 14,285 62 984 24 15,319

January 1993
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 1,932 2 104 3 2,041
Newcastle 862 2 50 1 915
Leeds 2,272 8 87 0 2,367
Manchester 1,582 9 115 0 1,706
Bootle 1,425 1 98 0 1,524
Birmingham 1,883 10 145 4 2,042
Bristol 650 6 56 0 712
Cardiff 1,229 0 96 0 1,325
Wembley 1,223 6 261 0 1,490
Sutton 1,196 8 127 5 1,336
Glasgow — — — — —
DLAU Warbeck House 943 4 99 8 1,054
Other MUs — — — — —
Great Britain 15,197 56 1,238 21 16,512

Annex A: Refusals on new claims for DLA by DBC February 1993
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 1,010 6 78 4 1,098
Newcastle 851 0 62 0 913
Leeds 2,419 7 195 2 2,623
Manchester 1,624 10 96 0 1,730
Bootle 1,569 1 139 2 1,711
Birmingham 1,937 7 312 2 2,258
Bristol 841 10 51 3 905
Cardiff 1,109 2 94 2 1,207
Wembley 1,564 8 138 0 1,710
Sutton 1,410 7 117 6 1,540
Glasgow 1,093 0 56 1 1,150
DLAU Warbreck House 2,379 23 464 5 2,871
Other MUs 3 0 0 0 3
Great Britain 17,809 81 1,802 27 19,719

March 1993
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 1,042 5 89 5 1,141
Newcastle 974 2 51 1 1,028
Leeds 2,707 8 172 5 2,892
Manchester 1,893 14 89 1 1,997
Bootle 1,799 5 148 1 1,953
Birmingham 2,467 10 266 3 2,746
Bristol 1,030 2 67 2 1,101
Cardiff 1,775 2 90 3 1,870
Wembley 2,078 16 209 1 2,304
Sutton 1,454 7 185 3 1,649
Glasgow 1,827 2 86 0 1,915
DLAU Warbreck House 1,080 13 257 8 1,358
Other MUs 13 0 0 0 13
Great Britain 20,139 86 1,709 33 21,967

Annex A: Refusals on new claims for DLA by DBC April 1993
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 1,015 2 68 1 1,086
Newcastle 940 0 64 0 1,004
Leeds 2,375 6 131 1 2,513
Manchester 1,519 7 85 2 1,613
Bootle 1,728 1 115 1 1,845
Birmingham 2,546 14 216 2 2,778
Bristol 882 1 63 1 947
Cardiff 1,298 0 76 2 1,376
Wembley 1,601 17 170 3 1,791
Sutton 1,617 7 142 3 1,769
Glasgow 1,623 0 61 0 1,684
Dlau Warbreck House 274 13 92 4 383
Other MUs 9 0 0 0 9
Great Britain 17,427 68 1,283 20 18,798

May 1993
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 868 0 52 1 921
Newcastle 960 1 59 2 1,022
Leeds 2,228 3 115 2 2,348
Manchester 1,414 4 63 1 1,482
Bootle 1,453 2 71 0 1,526
Birmingham 2,003 3 182 4 2,192
Bristol 729 4 67 1 801
Cardiff 2,136 1 98 1 2,236
Wembley 1,529 15 147 2 1,693
Sutton 1,758 5 127 3 1,893
Glasgow 1,990 0 63 0 2,053
Dlau Warbreck House 103 1 42 0 146
Other MUs 11 0 0 0 11
Great Britain 17,182 39 1,086 17 18,324

Annex A: Other refusals during 19921
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 1,021 3 46 2 1,072
Newcastle 746 1 23 0 770
Leeds 918 5 44 0 967
Manchester 973 4 30 0 1,007
Bootle 675 1 30 1 707
Birmingham 971 5 51 1 1,028

Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Bristol 441 3 28 1 473
Cardiff 668 1 29 0 698
Wembley 806 11 57 2 876
Sutton 791 8 50 3 852
Glasgow — — — — —
Dlau Warbreck House 112 4 13 4 133
Other MUs — — — — —
Great Britain 8,122 46 401 14 8,583
1 These cases were decided in 1992 but the exact month is not known.
(Figures are for cases cleared by a scan of the database during December 1992.)

Annex A: Cumulative up to end of May 1993
Lay grounds
Medical grounds (a) (b) (c) Total
Edinburgh 23,863 39 2,245 47 26,194
Newcastle 16,667 14 1,147 7 17,835
Leeds 27,458 74 2,381 24 29,937
Manchester 23,890 83 1,607 18 25,598
Bootle 19,027 24 1,751 16 20,818
Birmingham 27,248 95 3,163 41 30,547
Bristol 11,179 48 1,387 24 12,638
Cardiff 18,485 16 1,583 14 20,098
Wembley 20,673 148 3,110 30 23,961
Sutton 20,078 95 2,652 63 22,888
Glasgow 6,533 2 266 1 6,802
Dlau Warbreck House 6,861 66 1,526 45 8,498
Other MUs 36 0 0 0 36
Great Britain 221,998 704 22,818 330 245,850
Reasons for refusal on lay grounds are:
(a)—on grounds of age.
(b)—on grounds of residence and presence.
(c)—other reasons.

Annex B: Refusals on top up claims for DLA for Great Britain
MobA

Beneficiaries

 AA

Beneficiaries
Month Medical Grounds Lay Grounds Medical Grounds Lay Grounds
Month Age Other Total
1992
February 11 0 4 0 0 15
March 106 0 62 8 0 176
April 478 0 100 1 0 579
May 1,240 3 211 1 2 1,457
June 2,597 19 393 1 7 3,017
July 3,882 22 523 4 4 4,435
August 5,896 5 736 18 2 6,657
September 5,690 7 713 1 2 6,413
October 4,441 18 905 9 10 5,383
November 2,592 8 578 1 2 3,181
December 2,269 7 356 4 2 2,638
Others1 1,813 5 481 82 3 2,384
1993
January 1,907 6 446 58 0 2,417
February 2,073 18 425 35 1 2,552
March 2,215 27 480 19 4 2,745
April 1,869 25 581 25 5 2,505
May 1,055 0 315 14 1 1,385
TOTAL 40,134 170 7,309 281 45 47,939
1 These cases were decided in 1992 but the exact month is riot known.
Figures are for cases cleared by a scan of the database during December 1992.

Sir John Hannam

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) whether the Benefits Agency has now completed its report on the differences in adjudication standards between disability benefit centres;

(2) what steps the Benefits Agency has taken to ensure consistency in adjudication decisions on disability living allowance between disability benefits centres.

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 my hon. Friend and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from Michael Bichard to Sir John Hannam, dated 15 June 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 asking (i) whether the Benefits Agency has now completed its report on the differences in adjudication standards between Disability Benefits Centres and (ii) what steps the Benefits Agency has taken to ensure consistency in adjudication decisions on Disability Living Allowance between Disability Benefits Centres.

A study concerning standards of adjudication in Disability Benefits Centres is still in progress and findings are not expected to become available until late August 1993. Thereafter, recommendations will be carefully analysed before any changes are implemented.

The aim of the study is to assess standards of adjudication, including variations, across the Disability Benefits Centres and the main Disability Living Allowance Unit(s) at Blackpool. It includes a physical examination of casework, research among staff and an analysis of data arising from Review and Appeals activities.

I hope that you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.