§ Earl Russellasked Her Majesty's Government:
What has been the effect of the strengthening of the gateway to Income Support described at paragraph 2.14 of Safeguarding Social Security (Cm 4276) on the speed with which new claims for income support are met. [HL1937]
§ Baroness Hollis of HeighamThe administration of Income Support is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. I have asked him to write to you.
Letter to Earl Russell from the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, Mr. Peter Mathison, dated 22 April 1999.
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent parliamentary Question asking about the effects of the strengthening of the gateway to income support described at paragraph 2.14 of Safeguarding Social Security (CM 4276) on the speed with which new claims for income support are met.
The evidence requirement (ER) was introduced for income support (IS) claims on 6 October 1997. The legislation allows the customer a month from first indicating an intention to claim to submit the evidence, and still have their claim treated as made on the earlier date. It may help if I explain that, until the ER is satisfied, the claim is not valid. As soon as an IS claim has satisfied the ER it is passed to the adjudication officer. It is from then that BA's clearance times are counted.
An example of this would be where a new claim to IS is submitted on 1 April without all of the required evidence. The evidence is supplied on Monday 12 April and the adjudication officer issues the decision on Friday 16 April. The clearance time would be five working days. In this example the customer could supply evidence as late as 30 April 1999 and still receive IS from 1 April 1999, as long as the normal conditions of entitlement are satisfied.
The agency currently measures speed of clearance as the percentage of claims cleared in five days and 13 days. Prior to the introduction of ER, the agency target for clearance in five days was 63 per cent. and for 13 days it was 87 per cent. For 1996–97 both these targets were met.
With the introduction of ER in 1997–98, the five-day clearance target was moved to 60 per cent. and the 14WA reported achievement was 56.4 per cent. For 1998–99, the five-day clearance target was left at 60 per cent. and the latest performance figures (to February 1999) show that the target is now being met.
The second tier target was not altered with the introduction of ER. It has remained at 87 per cent. In 1997–98 and 1998–99 (to February 1999) the performance has dropped below target by about 1 per cent.
I hope this is helpful.