§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average time taken to process a new claim for disability living allowance. [13173]
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§ Mr. Andrew MitchellThis is a matter for Peter Mathison, chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Gerry Steinberg, dated 7 February 1996:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what is the average time it takes to process a new claim for Disability Living Allowance. (DLA).The Secretary of State has set two targets in relation to new DLA claims. These are that 68% of new claims be cleared within 30 working days and that 85% be cleared within 53 working days. As at 31 December 1995, the DLA Unit cleared 70.73% new claims within 30 days and 92.57% within 53 days.The average time for processing a DLA claim is not a target set by the Secretary of State. However, at 31 December 1995, the average length of time taken to process a new claim to DLA was 27 days.I hope you find this reply helpful.