§ Mr. WinnickTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, (1) pursuant to his answer of 5 April 2001,Official Report, column 260W, what is the average amount of time decision makers have been employed in the Benefits Agency prior to being appointed to that position; [158007]
(2) how many decisions made by decision makers in the Benefits Agency have been reversed in (a) 1998, (b) 1999 and (c) 2000; [157993]
(3) pursuant to his answer of 5 April 2001, Official Report, column 260W, how many decision makers in the Benefits Agency earn annually (a) between £10 and £12,000, (b) £12 to £15,000, (c) £15 to £18,000, (d) £18 to £25,000 and (e) more than £25,000; [158009]
(4) pursuant to his answer of 5 April 2001, Official Report, column 260W, what the procedure is whereby hon. Members may establish direct contact on behalf of constituents with a particular decision maker. [157977]
§ Angela EagleStaff are not employed specifically as decision makers and are not separately identifiable. It is not therefore possible to establish how long staff have been employed in the Benefits Agency prior to undertaking work which involves an element of decision making or the number of decision makers in the pay ranges specified.
Following the introduction of the decision making and appeals (DMA) provisions during the period July to November 1999 the Benefits Agency has collected data about the numbers of decisions across the major benefits that are revised internally following reconsideration. From the introduction of the DMA provisions until the end of March 2000, approximately 38,000 decisions were revised. From April 2000 to the end of February 2001 approximately 102,000 decisions were revised. This includes decisions that were revised following a request from the customer and those decisions that were revised on the instigation of the decision maker.
There is no formal procedure in place specifically for hon. Members to establish direct contact with an individual decision maker.
628WIndividual decision makers will provide their name and a contact telephone number to customers when asked to do so. They will also include their name and contact number when issuing individual letters to customers. However, individual decision makers' names are not identified on Agency computer generated decision notices.
As the customer's representative, an hon. Member would be able to approach the individual decision maker, in the same way as any other representative, if they were of the view that it was appropriate to do so. However, as I stated in my written answer on 5 April 2001, Official Report, column 260W the accepted procedure has been for hon. Members to contact the Local Office Manager where a reply is required.