§ Mr. BestTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many claimants of incapacity benefit who have been required to undertake the all work test; [53961]
(2) how many claimants of incapacity benefit have not satisfied the requirements of the all work test in the opinion of the Benefits Agency Medical Services Medical Officer; [53966]
(3) how many claimants of incapacity benefit who have appealed against decisions of the Benefits Agency Medical Services Medical Officer that they did not satisfy the requirements of the all work test have had their appeals upheld after (a) an oral and (b) a paper hearing. [53967]
§ Mr. DenhamThe information is not available in the form requested. The information which is available is as follows.
Decisions on entitlement to Incapacity Benefit are made by independent Adjudication Officers in the light of all the evidence, including medical advice from the claimant's GP, other medical practitioners where relevant, and the Benefits Agency Medical Services Medical Officer.
The All Work Test is a functional assessment of a person's ability to carry out a range of work-related activities: in some but not all cases a medical examination by the Benefits Agency Medical Services is required.
From 13 April 1995 to 30 June 1998, a total of 2,920,2021 All Work Test decisions were made and a total of 565,5832 claims were disallowed.
Details of appeals outcomes split between oral and paper hearings are only available from July 1997. From July 1997 to April 1998 the Independent Tribunal Service heard 26,778 appeals on Incapacity Benefit (All Work Test). Of these 19,691 were oral hearings with 9,803 being found in favour of the appellant. The remaining 7,087 were paper hearings with 853 found in the appellant's favour.
Appellants are asked if they want to attend the hearing of their appeal. The Department's appeals leaflet makes it clear that appellants who attend or are represented at hearings have a higher success rate and encourages people to attend the hearing.
Notes:
1 Includes Incapacity Benefit recipients and credits only cases, and Severe Disablement Allowance cases allowed following BAMS referral
2 Includes claimants disallowed for failure to return the IB50 questionnaire or to attend a medical examination, without good cause
Source:
1. All Work Test decisions and disallowances—100 per cent. count of the computer system, excludes a small number of cases not on the system
2. Appeals—provisional data supplied by Analytical Services Division (ASD) from the Independent Tribunal Service Generic Appeals Processing System,