§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will list for the Doncaster and Mexborough benefit offices how many claims for assistance from the social fund have been made during each of the last 12 months; and what the figure was for each year since 1990;
(2) what is the current average length of time taken to decide on an application for assistance from the social fund (a) nationally and (b) at each of the Benefits Agency offices in the Doncaster and Mexborough area.
§ Mr. Roger EvansThe administration of the social fund 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.
Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Martin Redmond, dated 18 January 1995:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions asking for details of the number of claims made to the Social Fund (SF) and the current average clearance times for these applications both nationally and in the Benefits Agency's Doncaster and Mexborough offices.623WAlthough information is available relating to Doncaster, information relating specifically to Mexborough is not available in the exact format requested. Prior to the formation of the Benefits Agency in April 1991 Mexborough formed part of Rotherham South. Figures have therefore been provided at Annex A for the total number of applications to the SF in 1990/91 for both Doncaster and Rotherham South. From april 1991 Mexborough became one of four offices making up the Rother and Dearne District and information has been provided at Annex B for the total number of claims to the SF from 1991/92 to 1993/94 at Doncaster and Rother and Dearne Districts.At Annex C I have provided figures for the number of claims to the SF at the Doncaster and Rother and Dearne Districts in each of the last twelve months.It is not possible to provide the current average length of time taken to decide an application for assistance from the SF because statistics are not collated in this way. However, I have provided at Annex D figures showing the percentage of claims cleared within two varying timescales; these are provided at a national level and for the Doncaster and Rother and Dearne Districts.Copies of all the Annexes have been place in the Library.I hope you find this reply helpful.