§ Ms JowellTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average length of time taken to process an application for family credit.
§ Mr. BurtThe assessment of family credit 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 Ms Tessa Jowell, dated 8 March 1994:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the average length of time taken to process an application for Family Credit.Firstly, I should explain that the Benefits Agency's 1992–93 target, set by the Secretary of State is to clear 60 per cent. of claims to Family Credit within 13 days.The average clearance time for the latest month, February 1994, is 12.11 working days. I am also able to inform you that over the last six months, claims to Family Credit have been cleared in an average of 11.72 days.I hope my reply has been helpful.