§ Mr. BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the Benefit Integrity Project ended in Greater Manchester; what has replaced it; and how the replacement is different from its predecessor. [73547]
§ Mr. BayleyThe administration of Disability Living Allowance 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. Andrew F. Bennett, dated 1 March 1999:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking when the Benefits Integrity Project ended in Greater Manchester, what has replaced it, and how the replacement is different from its predecessor.The Benefit Integrity Project (BIP) will end nationally on 31 March 1999 and is to be replaced by a new and fairer system. No new cases will be selected for the BIP after this date. Cases where action has already started will continue to be processed through the stages of adjudication including review and appeal.From April, a new system of "Periodic Review" will be introduced. This will incorporate the lessons already learned from BIP, and will be fairer as it will gather information by home visits and postal enquiries across the whole range of rates and components of Disability Living Allowance (DLA). It will therefore provide for awards to be increased as well as decreased in line with entitlement.At the outset, those DLA recipients whose cases have been examined by the BIP will be excluded from the process, as will those people in any one of the specific categories of exclusions from the BIP. People with a fixed period award due to end within the next three years will also be excluded.The process will be evaluated after six months. The findings will be used to continue to improve the process to make it more sensitive to the circumstances of the individual concerned. Additionally, we will be testing new ways of evidence gathering for DLA claims. Discussions are taking place with disability groups to ensure that the new system is sensitive and is both fair and effective.I hope that you have found this reply helpful.