§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 11 March,Official Report, column 199, how many and what proportion of medical examinations in connection with claims for disability living allowance or attendance allowance were carried out in February by doctors who were members of disability appeal tribunals. [20959]
§ Mr. BurtThe information is not available in the format requested.
571WIt is estimated that, out of a total of 24,401 medical examinations in connection with claims to disability living allowance and attendance allowance which were allocated to examining medical practitioners in February, approximately 5 per cent. were allocated to doctors who also sit as members of disability appeal tribunals.
Note:
The total number of examinations allocated includes those which may have been subsequently aborted or have not yet been carried out.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the impact of the recent amendments to the Social Security (Adjudication) Regulations on the number of and hearings of appeals. [20963]
§ Mr. Roger EvansI refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 6 March,Official Report, column 718.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will amend the Social Security (Adjudication) Regulations 1995 to require tribunal members to inform appellants of any salary or fees they have received from his Department, other than for their work as tribunal members, in the preceding six months. [20962]
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will instruct the Benefits Agency medical services not to use doctors who are members of disability appeal tribunals for the purpose of examining claimants in connection with claims for disability living allowance or attendance allowance. [20960]
§ Mr. BurtNo.
There is no reason why membership of a disability appeal tribunal should be incompatible with work for Benefits Agency medical services as long as appeals do not relate to cases specifically handled by the doctor. To limit BAMS to using, for the examination of claimants at the request of the adjudication officer, only those doctors who are not members of disability appeals tribunals would unnecessarily reduce the number of people who could be involved on this work.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will amend the Social Security (Adjudication) Regulations 1995 to require that the action taken by a tribunal clerk to supply tribunal members with copies of documents relating to an appeal should be the same, irrespective of whether the appeal is to be decided without an oral hearing. [20961]