§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to her answer of 2 June,Official Report, column 114, relating to the recent House of Lords 96W judgment on the Halliday case; what estimate she has made of the annual cost of the steps being taken by the Benefits Agency; and what preparatory actions were taken by her Department prior to the judgment. [2305]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 11 June 1997]: The Benefits Agency are currently estimating the administrative costs arising from this judgment. Additional benefit expenditure on those cases covered by the judgment is estimated to be £3 million for 1997–98.
Preparatory actions included discussions with the Benefits Agency on the practicalities of handling the judgments; preparation of draft forms and circulars giving advice to staff in the Disability Benefits Directorate and the collection of information on cases which had already benefited under the original Commissioner's decision of 14 October 1994 in order to forecast the likely financial impact. Advice was also considered on the implications of the cases involved.