§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 20 March 2001,Official Report, column 204W, how many applications for Disability Living Allowance were received in each quarter of the last
616W
Average number of days to process initial claims, reviews, reconsiderations1, supersessions1 and appeals in each quarter from March 1998 Year to date2 Initial claims Reviews3 Reconsiderations Supersessions Appeals March 1998 37.2 52.3 — — 33.2 June 1998 31.5 47.0 — — 32.2 September 1998 32.4 49.0 — — 34.6 December 1998 33.9 49.5 — — 35.1 March 1999 35.0 49.7 — — 36.1 June 1999 37.5 54.8 — — 40.7 September 1999 38.7 57.3 — — 46.4 December 1999 40.0 — 34.4 42.0 47.0 March 2000 42.6 — 55.4 67.5 52.7 three years; how many of these were (a) successful, (b) unsuccessful, (c) subject to review, (d) successful at review, (e) unsuccessful at review, (f) subject to reconsideration, (g) successful at reconsideration, (h) unsuccessful at reconsideration, (i) subject to supersession, (j) successful at supersession, (k) unsuccessful at supersession, (l) subject to appeal, (m) successful at appeal and (n) unsuccessful at appeal; what the average number of days taken was to process applications; and how many decisions had not been reached at the end of each quarter for (i) first claim, (ii) renewal, (iii) review, (iv) reconsideration, (v) supersession and (iv) appeal stages. [157424]
§ Mr. BayleyAvailable information is in the tables.
Initial claims for Disability Living Allowance in each quarter from March 1998 and whether successful Initial decisions Quarter ending Claims received Successful Unsuccessful March 1998 97,387 47,792 57,148 June 1998 96,125 42,954 51,796 September 1998 103,061 43,899 51,754 December 1998 96,022 44,157 52,083 March 1999 103,069 44,587 52,564 June 1999 98,997 45,757 53,746 September 1999 97,542 46,974 52,716 December 1999 91,311 39,053 38,248 March 2000 104,749 49,257 45,680 June 2000 104,079 51,718 50,554 September 2000 100,670 57,283 57,814 December 2000 96,333 48,358 46,708 Source:
DSS Information Centre: 100 per cent. data
Initial claims for Disability Living Allowance which were successful on review, reconsideration1 or appeal in each quarter from February 1998 Quarter ending In time review Reconsideration Appeal February 1998 8,500 — 3,300 May 1998 6,900 — 3,400 August 1998 6,700 — 4,200 November 1998 6,600 — 3,900 February 1999 6,700 — 3,800 May 1999 5,900 — 4,100 August 1999 6,800 — 4,600 November 1999 6,000 400 3,700 February 2000 2,800 2,600 3,500 May 2000 900 3,800 4,100 Aug 2000 — 4,300 4,400 1 Reconsiderations replaced in-time reviews under the new system of decision making and appeals which was introduced in October 1999 Source:
DSS Information Centre: 5 per cent. data
617W
Average number of days to process initial claims, reviews, reconsiderations1, supersessions1 and appeals in each quarter from March 1998 Year to date2 Initial claims Reviews3 Reconsiderations Supersessions Appeals June 2000 50.9 — 59.8 70.3 67.2 September 2000 49.1 — 52.3 64.6 63.5 December 2000 47.8 — 49.3 61.4 59.4 1 Reconsiderations and supersessions replaced reviews under the new system of decision making and appeals which was introduced in October 1999 2 Figures relate to the period starting on April 1 3 Includes both 'in time' and 'out of time' reviews Source:
BA Disability and Carer Benefits Directorate
Decisions not reached at end of quarter Quarter ending Initial claims Renewals Reviews1 Reconsiderations Supersessions Appeals March 1998 35,907 21,838 49,406 — — 4,503 June 1998 36,696 26,683 52,502 — — 4,812 September 1998 43,501 26,507 53,873 — — 4,835 December 1998 42,813 23,268 50,417 — — 3,064 March 1999 47,950 25,579 55,520 — — 4,342 June 1999 46,842 29,098 62,765 — — 6,012 September 1999 44,211 27,145 61,407 — — 6,502 December 1999 57,457 39,491 — 28,352 24,058 11,964 March 2000 67,257 46,338 — 23,495 43,190 19,869 June 2000 68,309 37,178 — 17,733 35,977 23,634 September 2000 53,084 24,737 — 14,736 25,531 20,413 December 2000 53,643 23,419 — 11,047 23,393 11,086 1 Includes both 'in time' and 'out of time' reviews Source:
Disability and Carer Benefits Directorate
The number of people who receive Disability Living Allowance continues to increase. Significant backlogs of work accrued in the processing of these benefits last year, because of the growing caseload and introduction of a new system of decision making and appeals. The Benefits Agency tackled the backlog as a priority and it has now been substantially cleared. The continuing high level of appeals outstanding reflects the increase in the numbers received following the introduction of the new procedures.
§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many complaints have been received about the Benefits Agency regarding claims to Disability Living Allowance for each month since May 1997. [155416]
§ Mr. BayleyThe administration of Disability Living Allowance is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. David Willetts, dated 10 April 2001:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many complaints have been received about the Benefits Agency regarding claims to Disability Living Allowance for each month since May 1997.Information is not available for the period prior to April 1998. From April 1998, the number of complaints made in respect of Disability Living Allowance by letter, telephone or in person is in the table.
618W
1998 1999 2000 April 176 505 1,141 May 158 679 1,262 June 258 909 1,569 July 264 972 1,370
1998 1999 2000 August 508 801 1,169 September 455 1,004 912 October 461 807 950 November 563 886 773 December 270 962 530 January 337 886 791 February 419 961 614 March 407 1,284 1— 1Figures for March 2001 are not yet available It should be noted that while the statistics show the number of all types of complaints about the standard of service received, they also include cases in which dissatisfaction has been expressed with the outcome of benefit decisions which must be pursued through the decision making and appeals process.
There was a steady increase in the figures throughout the period up to June 2000. This can be attributed to an increase in work on hand before and after the introduction of new decision making and appeals procedures. It is well-documented that changes to Disability Living Allowance procedures introduced in October 1999 led initially to a significant increase in the time taken to process each case. This created a temporary backlog of work, which resulted in an increase in the number of complaints. The backlog was tackled as a priority and has now been cleared with the result that the level of complaints have steadily decreased each month since July 2000.
I hope this information is helpful.
§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will give a breakdown in number and relevant percentage of the DLA decisions on(a) the number of claims received in (i) 1999 and (ii) 2000, (b) the number which went to appeal in (i) 1999 and (ii) 2000, and the number which were turned down, (c) the number which went to tribunal in (i) 1999 and (ii) 2000 and in each year how many were turned down and (d) the 619W average time it took for a decision to be taken (i) initially, (ii) on appeal and (iii) on further appeal to the tribunal in (A) 1999 and (B) 2000. [157983]
§ Mr. BayleyThe available information is in the tables.
Disability Living Allowance claim, review and appeal decisions 1999 2000 Claims received 390,919 405,831 Reviews1 Number received 307,903 263,840 All decisions 278,365 303,874 Successful2 91,994 122,632 Successful as percentage of all decisions 33 40 Appeals3 Number received 49,166 104,578 All decisions 49,857 57,522 Successful2 24,051 27,159 Successful as percentage of all decisions 48 47 1 Figures include reconsiderations and supersessions under the new system of decision making and appeals introduced in October 1999. 2 Figures relate both to cases where benefit is awarded and cases where the value of an award is increased. 2 Figures relate to cases at appeal tribunals. Source:
DSS Information Centre: 100 per cent. data.
Average clearance times for Disability Living Allowance claims in days Year1 Type of decision 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 New Claims (normal rules) 35.00 42.60 46.80 Reviews 49.70 64.30 — Reconsiderations2 — 55.40 46.70 Supersessions2 — 67.50 58.20 Appeals 36.10 52.70 55.60 1 The BA does not routinely collate figures by calendar year. 2 Reconsiderations and supersessions were introduced in October 1999 under a new system of decision making and appeals. Source:
BA Disability and Carer Benefits Directorate.