§ Mr. PriorTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many complaints have been received about the treatment of disabled people by officers of her Department in each of the last three years. [47999]
§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 1 July 1998]: The information is not available in the format requested. Departmental Agencies can provide information on the number of complaints received from all customers but do not specifically record whether they are made by disabled customers.
The Benefits Agency (BA) can however provide some complaints information about disabled customers. Since October 1997, the BA has received a total of 36,023 complaints. Of these, a total of 2,615 complaints have been received about the administration of Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance. Additionally, there have been 59 complaints about customer service from people who have identified themselves as disabled.