§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy to exclude 1021W war pensions when assessing either council tax allowance or rent allowances. [41607]
§ Mr. WilsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many claims lodged with the War Pensions Agency have lapsed in each of the past five years on the ground that the applicant has died while awaiting a decision; [41579]
(2) if he will state the average time lapse between claims being lodged with the War Pensions Agency and the decisions being issued. [41578]
§ Mr. HealdThese are matters for Mr. John Sheppard, the acting chief executive of the War Pensions Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from John Sheppard to Mr. Brian Wilson, dated 7 November 1995:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Questions about claims to War Disablement Pension.Information on the number of claims lapsed due to the applicant dying whilst awaiting a decision is not readily available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. However, I should point out that wherever possible, we continue with a claim after a person has died and try to make a decision on the available evidence. Any payments which become due are made to the next of kin.The average times taken to deal with claims are shown in the attached appendix, along with details of the Secretary of State's targets and our achievement against these.These standards have been achieved despite the phasing in, since April, of a new computer system and major restructuring of the organisation. This month sees the final stages of the introduction of these changes and the average time for clearance of claims should then see a gradual improvement during the remaining part of the year.I hope you find this information useful.
Average time taken to deal with War Pension claims (April to September 1995) Working days First claims to War Pension 151.7 Second and subsequent claims 126.27 Claims to War Widows Pension 37.72 1022W
Secretary of State's Targets Achievement (April-September 1995) Per cent. First claims to War Pension 60 per cent, in 150 working days 61.45 95 per cent, in 310 working days 94.6 Second and subsequent claims 60 per cent, in 135 working days 66.19 95 per cent, in 195 working days 91.00 Claims to War Widows Pension 80 per cent, in 70 working days 90.66 95 per cent, in 145 working days 98.68