§ Mr. WinnickTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will state the outcome of the home visit made by the Benefits Agency to Miss H. McNulty ref. JP/4L/JKM. [82274]
§ Angela EagleThe administration of the Social Fund is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. David Winnick, dated 27 April 1999:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking about the outcome of the visit by an officer of the Benefits Agency to Miss H. McNulty.172WThe purpose of the visit on 22 March was to obtain the fullest possible details of the need for a mobility scooter before undertaking a review of the decision to refuse a Community Care Grant or Budgeting Loan for the scooter.On 25 March the reviewing officer, taking full account of the details obtained at the visit, decided that Miss McNulty's application should be treated as having medium priority for either a Community Care Grant or a Budgeting Loan, but because the District budget could only sustain applications with high priority, a payment was again refused.A request that the application should be looked at by a Social Fund Inspector (SFI) was received from Miss McNulty on 30 March. On 6 April the relevant papers were copied to Miss McNulty to give her the opportunity to comment. Her reply was sent to the SFI dated 8 April. The outcome of the decision of the SFI, issued on 21 April 1999, was that the decision of the reviewing officer to refuse a payment from the Social Fund was correct.I am sorry I have to give what must be a disappointing reply for Miss McNulty.