Disability Living Allowance (Hansard, 15 December 1994)

§ Mr. Gunnell
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what safeguards will exist to ensure that availability for work criteria are properly matched to the capability of the claimant in respect of people being transferred from disability living allowance to unemployment benefit.

§ Mr. Roger Evans
The Government have no proposals to transfer people from disability living allowance to unemployment benefit. However, regulation 7B of the Social Security (Unemployment, Sickness and Invalidity Benefit) Regulations 1983 currently provides that disabled people who are capable of some work may impose restrictions on their availability and receive Unemployment benefit where the restrictions are reasonable in view of their physical or mental condition.

§ Mr. Corbyn
To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make arrangements with the agency overseeing disability living allowance to ensure that offices holding claimant¹s files retain those files following an adverse decision on an application for disability living allowance for the period within which an appeal could be made.

§ Mr. Hague
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.
Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Jeremy Corbyn, dated 15 December 1994: The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the retention of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) files at the office where an adverse decision was made. The main responsibility of Disability Benefits Centres (DBC) is the processing of initial claims to both DLA and Attendance Allowance, before the centralised units in Blackpool take over the case. Since the introduction of DLA in April 1992 the Benefits Agency has looked carefully at the question of holding files at the office 800W where the initial decision is made. Our research has shown that the three month period following the initial decision is the period of high activity and this also represents the prescribed time limit for applications for a review on any grounds. A pilot exercise is currently being carried out at Newcastle DBC where the file is retained and almost all of the activity that arises in the three month period following the decision on a new claim is dealt with; some work done by specialist sections, such as Motability agreements, is retained at the DLA Unit in Blackpool. If the pilot at Newcastle successfully demonstrates efficiency and an improved customer service, consideration will be given to extending the practice to other DBCs. This pilot exercise is part of the Benefits Agency¹s strategy to improve customer service and to work towards the introduction of a One Stop service. I hope you find this reply helpful.