§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many review claims have been(a) dealt with 154W by the Disability Unit, (b) disallowed and (c) overturned on appeal, (i) since 1 January 1997 and (ii) since the current review has been in operation. [64757]
§ Mr. TimmsThe administration of Disability Living Allowance is a matter for Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Ronnie Fearn, dated 11 January 1999:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many review claims have been (a) dealt with by the Disability Unit, (b) disallowed and (c) overturned on appeal, (i) since 1st January 1997 and (ii) since the current review has been in operation.I have assumed your reference to the "current review" is a reference to the Benefit Integrity Project (BIP) which has been reviewing the entitlement of people receiving the higher rate mobility component with the higher or middle rate care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA).It may be helpful if I explain that more detailed statistical information is held about individual cases under the BIP than about general DLA cases, which are not individually tracked.Table A at Annex 1 contains information about DLA reviews and appeals dealt with outside the BIP. Table B, also at Annex 1, has information about BIP reviews and appeals. For the reasons stated in the previous paragraph, it is not possible to make a direct comparison between the two tables.
You will also wish to know that any review may result in any one of the following outcomes:
- Disallowed—all benefit has been disallowed
- Reduced—level of award reduced
- Maintained—this upholds the previous decision given
- Award varied—benefit payable remains the same, but there has been a change to the components or length of award has changed
- Withdrawn—the review request has been withdrawn by the customer
- Defective—the review request was not signed and after returning it to the customer has not been received back at the Disability Benefits Directorate
- No grounds—no legal basis on which to look at the case again
- Allowed—the review has resulted in benefit award
- Increased—a component not previously awarded has been allowed
Turning now to appeals, I must explain that, while the appeals figures quoted all relate to appeals following previous reviews, they do not necessarily relate to appeals against review decisions given during the same period. This is because of the time lag between a review decision being given, an appeal being made and submitted to Independent Tribunal Service and the appeal Hearing taking place. In other words, it is not possible to state exactly the number of successful appeals resulting from appeals against review decisions for the periods requested in your Question.You may find it helpful to know that statistical information about BIP, including details of reviews and appeals is, published on a monthly basis and is placed in the House of Commons Library.I hope you find this reply helpful.
Table A—Non BIP reviews and appeals Non BIP cases from I January 1997 to 31 October 1998 Number of reviews decisions made 646,249 Number of reviews disallowed 10,607 Number of appeal decisions made 77,474 Number of appeal decisions overturned in the customer's favour 24,883 Source:
DBD Resource and Assurance Group
155W
Table B—BIP reviews and appeals Total BIP cases to 31 October 1998 Number of review decisions made 17,913 Number of reviews totally disallowing benefit 5,347 Number of reviews resulting in the mobility component only being disallowed 880 Number of reviews resulting in the care component only being disallowed 2,108 Number of Appeals decisions made 1,116 Number of cases overturned resulting in the case being restored to the original award or to a higher rate 305 Note:
Figures are provisional and subject to change
Source:
Statistical databases from BIP database
§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the Disability Unit's(a) published targets and (b) current target attainment levels for processing review claims for the disability living allowance. [64759]
§ Mr. TimmsThe administration of Disability Living Allowance is a matter for Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Ronnie Fearn, dated 11 January 1999:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the Disability Unit's (a) published targets and (b) current target attainment levels are for processing review claims for the Disability Living Allowance (DLA).The Disability Benefits Directorate's published targets for 1998–1999 for clearance of DLA Reviews is 60 per cent. in 55 working days and 80 per cent. in 75 working days.The actual year to date achievement of DLA reviews clearances, as at November 1998, is 70 per cent. in 55 days and 86 per cent. in 75 days.I hope you find this reply helpful.
§ Mr. Denis MurphyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications for disability living allowance were received by the Disability Benefits Unit in(a) 1996, (b) 1997 and (c) 1998; and what was the average length of time taken from the Unit receiving the application to the applicant being notified of the decision in each of the three years concerned. [65039]
§ Mr. TimmsThe administration of Disability Living Allowance is a matter for Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend.
Letter from Peter Mathison to Mr. Denis Murphy, dated 11 January 1999:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many applications for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) were received by the Disability Benefits Unit in (a) 1996, (b) 1997 and (c) 1998: and what was the average length of time taken from the Unit receiving the application until the applicant being notified of the decision in each of the three years concerned.156WThe total number of DLA new claim applications and Special Rules new claim applications received by the Disability Benefits Directorate are shown at Annex A.The average length of time taken from receipt of the application until the applicant being notified of the decision for 1997 and 1998 is also shown at Annex A. I am unable to provide information for 1996 as system reports that provide the actual average clearance times were not in existence until the following year.The increase in time taken to clear new claims is the result of revised guidance given to Adjudication Officers on 9 February 1998 which has led them to seek supporting evidence in a higher number of cases. Time taken for evidence to arrive is included in the clearance time figures.I hope you find this reply helpful.
Number of DLA claims received and average clearance times DLA claims received 1996 1997 1998 Normal Rules (NR) 482,521 491,167 437,531 Special Rules (SR) 28,190 26,421 23,828
DLA claims average clearance Normal rules (NR) N/A 32 days 37 days Special rules (SR) N/A 7 days 8 days Source:
DBD Resource and Assurance Group.
Figures are provisional and subject to change.