§ Mr. PikeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will list by local authority(a) the number of cases where arrears of severe disability premium have now been paid and (b) the average amount of the arrears paid by each authority; [20272]
(2) when the hon. Member for Burnley will receive an answer to his question of 8 March on cases of arrears of severe disability premiums. [27050]
§ Mr. Roger EvansThe administration of income support is a matter for Peter Mathison, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Peter Pike, dated 29 April 1996:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your Parliamentary Question of 8 March asking if he will list by Local Authority (LA), (a) the number of cases where arrears of 474W severe disability premium (SDP) have now been paid; (b) the average amount of arrears paid by each authority; and your further question of 23 April.I apologise for the delay in responding to your original question.The information is not available in the format requested. Income Support (IS) statistics are collated by Benefit Agency (BA) Districts and not by LA areas. Statistics are not routinely collated on the number of IS awards which include premiums. This information could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.However a statistical sampling exercise was undertaken in 26 offices within 25 BA Districts. From this it is estimated that nationally arrears of SDP amounting to £88.67 million have been paid on approximately 24,000 cases with ongoing entitlement to IS.I hope you find this reply helpful.