Kenneth Gilbert (Hansard, 3 February 1999)

§ Angela Eagle

The administration of Disability Living Allowance is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with further details.

Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Anthony Steen, dated 2 February 1999: The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking when the appeal by Kenneth Gilbert of Brixham in relation to his disability care allowance will be heard; and if he will ensure the hearing takes place before a disability appeals tribunal. It may be helpful if I explain that there are 4 tiers to the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) adjudication process; new claim, first tier review, second tier review, and appeal to a Disability Appeal Tribunal. Mr. Gilbert submitted a DLA claim on 21 February 1995 and was awarded the higher rate of the mobility component from and including 7 February 1995. On 29 February 1996, Mr. Gilbert requested a review and asked for care needs to be considered. He was awarded the lowest rate of the care component from and including 1 March 1996. His entitlement to the mobility component was unaffected. On 29 October 1998, Mr. Gilbert asked for a review of his entitlement to the care component. He completed a claim pack with details of his current care needs but on 9 December 1998 an adjudication officer (AO) was unable to find grounds to review the previous decision. The decision was notified to Mr. Gilbert on 23 December 1998 with details about his right of review within 3 months. I should explain that if a review is requested more than 3 months after the previous decision was notified, the decision may only be reviewed if specific criteria are satisfied. For example, the previous decision must have been made in ignorance of a material fact, or based on a mistake as to a material fact, or there must have been a relevant change of circumstances. On 13 January 1999, a request for an appeal to a Disability Appeal Tribunal against the decision dated 9 December 1998 was received from Mr. Gilbert. The team leader of the operational section responsible for Mr. Gilbert's claim telephoned him on 28 January and explained that the correct next stage in the adjudication process was a review and that this would include a full explanation of the reasons for the decision. Mr. Gilbert said he was happy about this and had merely been confused about the procedures when he requested an appeal. The team leader explained that if Mr. Gilbert was dissatisfied with the outcome of the review decision, he would then have the right to request an appeal to a Tribunal within 3 months of the notification date. On 28 January a different AO considered all the evidence, including further clarification of his care needs given by Mr. Gilbert during his telephone conversation with the operational team leader. A review decision, upholding the previous decision, was completed on 28 January and was issued to Mr. Gilbert on 1 February 1999. The decision carries the right of appeal to a Disability Appeal Tribunal.

Numbers of families with children receiving income support by family type, family size and age of each child as at August 1998
Thousand
	Number of:	Number of children aged
	Families	Children	Under 12 months	1 to 2 years	3 to 4 years	5 to 10 years	11 to 15 years	16 to 18 years
All Families
All Children	1,248	2,379	126	293	295	883	624	159
With 1 child	552	552	53	106	74	149	128	41
With 2 children	406	812	37	94	110	315	204	52
With 3 children	189	566	20	55	64	238	157	34
With 4 or more	101	450	16	39	47	182	135	32

674W

If Mr. Gilbert does request an appeal against the decision of 28 January, the Independent Tribunal Service (ITS) will be responsible for the administration of the appeal hearing and for inviting Mr. Gilbert to attend. The ITS is wholly independent of the Benefits Agency. I hope you find this reply helpful.