§ Mr. DavidsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the categories of appeals heard by the Independent Tribunal Service at its Glasgow office in the last year for which figures are available with in each case a breakdown of length of waiting time and numbers awaiting a tribunal hearing; and if he will make a statement. [75129]
§ Angela EagleThe information is not available in the form requested. Such information as is available is in the table. The Independent Tribunal Service (ITS) has embarked on a major programme to reduce the number 393W of cases awaiting appeal hearings and the length of time appellants have to wait. Additional resources have been dedicated to the programme. The number of appeals sessions will have progressively been increased by some 40 per cent. (from 800 to 1,300 a month) by the end of this year and additional venues will have been secured. All cases are being systematically addressed to ensure that all necessary action is being expedited. The organisations who support and represent appellants are actively engaged in discussions about how individual cases can be resolved timeously with fewer postponements or adjournments. This programme is already beginning to have effect.
Glasgow ITS performance figures for 1 April 1998 to 28 February 1999 Jurisdiction Total appeals in hand
31 March 1998
Appeals received Appeals cleared Average clearance time
Total appeals in hand
28 February 1999
Total 33,107 36,850 44,739 — 25,451 SSAT 23,146 24,865 32,294 40.61 16,230 MAT 2,583 3,027 2,338 46.19 2,758 DAT 6,958 8,328 9,372 36.92 6,063 CSAT 420 630 735 32.24 400 394W
Appeals received Cleared/withdrawn at hearing
Non hearing clearances
Total cleared To be decided Clearance time Social Security Appeal Tribunals (SSAT) April 2,684 1,787 612 2,399 22,814 35.56 May 1,997 1,842 606 2,448 22,729 37.82 June 2,465 2,027 629 2,656 22,899 38.24 July 2,415 2,216 630 2,846 22,435 40.32 August 2,175 2,383 562 2,945 21,710 39.50 September 1,925 2,496 491 2,987 20,703 38.75 October 2,331 2,637 642 3,279 19,823 37.67 November 2,201 2,583 680 3,263 18,744 41.15 December 2,389 2,415 725 3,140 18,040 46.11 January 1,875 2,442 780 3,222 16,487 49.26 February 2,408 2,439 670 3,109 16,230 38.82 Total 24,865 25,267 7,027 32,294 — 40.61 Medical Appeal Tribunals (MAT) April 296 219 20 239 2,313 29.36 May 246 187 19 206 2,311 37.99 June 284 151 20 171 2,453 36.82 July 267 192 13 205 2,307 38.97 August 248 171 19 190 2,355 43.70 September 224 194 99 293 2,291 51.08 October 306 203 80 283 2,347 52.18 November 292 201 14 215 2,397 50.59 December 293 145 13 158 2,524 50.67 January 287 169 28 197 2,662 63.96 February 284 174 7 181 2,758 53.08 Total 3,027 2,006 332 2,338 — 46.19 Disability Appeal Tribunals (DAT) April 876 632 66 698 7,732 35.94 May 837 671 89 760 7,820 35.11 June 885 856 76 932 8,077 33.80 July 808 886 96 982 7,010 33.29 August 739 787 67 854 6,910 33.71 September 663 857 46 903 6,691 37.58 October 1,055 845 89 934 6,801 43.28 November 623 813 73 886 6,556 36.38 December 664 672 78 750 6,461 40.89 January 522 745 77 822 6,205 39.65 February 656 787 64 851 6,063 36.94 Total 8,328 8,551 821 9,372 — 36.92 We are currently overhauling the whole decision making and appeals system. We are firmly committed to tackling the unacceptable delays in the appeals service—currently averaging 7 months across the country, with some appellants waiting over a year for the decision on their case. Regulations that will simplify and speed the appeals process will be debated shortly under affirmative procedures. Under the provisions of the Social Security Act 1998, which paves the way for modernising the delivery of Social Security, one of the major areas of change will be to reduce substantially the current waiting times for appeals.
395W
Appeals received Cleared/withdrawn at hearing Non hearing clearances Total cleared To be decided Clearance time Child Support Appeal Tribunals (CSAT) April 99 56 10 66 559 21.70 May 59 49 11 60 525 25.91 June 100 41 30 71 612 34.75 July 39 61 16 77 486 28.19 August 54 67 11 78 464 29.85 September 46 83 9 92 424 30.22 October 53 43 13 56 425 30.23 November 31 59 9 68 394 32.93 December 66 47 7 54 413 38.39 January 47 45 24 69 414 43.23 February 36 39 5 44 400 45.24 Total 630 590 145 735 — 32.24
§ Ms KellyTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people are in receipt of housing benefit; and of these, how many are(a) of working age, (b) in receipt of incapacity benefit, (c) in receipt of unemployment benefit and (d) in receipt of income support, in (i) Bolton, (ii) the North West and (iii) England. [75631]
§ Angela EagleThe information is set out in the table.
Housing Benefit recipients as at May 1998 Thousand Bolton North West England Total Housing Benefit recipients 23 440 3,726 of working age na 275 2,273 in receipt of incapacity benefit na 33 214 in receipt of unemployment benefit (Jobseeker's Allowance (contribution based)) na 5 49 in receipt of income support or Jobseeker's Allowance (Income Based) 15 286 2,384 Notes:
1. Figures for Bolton are estimated.
2. Figures for the North West and England include estimates where individual local authority data are not available.
3. All figures include overlaps where cases fall into more than one of the above categories.
4. 'Working age' is defined as where either the claimant or any partner is aged under 60 years.
5. `na' denotes information not available.
6. Recipients may be a single person or a couple.
7. All figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
Sources:
Quarterly returns and Annual 1 per cent. sample in May 1998 (provisional)—the sample is too small to give detailed local authority information.