§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many complaints were made against the Benefits Agency in regard to Disability Living Allowance in each of the last three years; how many such cases have been investigated by the Ombudsman; in how many cases was compensation awarded; and what the(a) highest and (b) average level of compensation was. [150594]
§ Mr. RookerThe 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. Anthony Steen, dated 26 February 2001:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many complaints were made against the Benefits Agency in regard to Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in each of the lat three years; how many such cases have been investigated by the Ombudsman; in how many cases was compensation awarded; and what the (a) highest and (b) average level of compensation was.
The information yon requested is not available in exactly the format you want. The information that is available is as follows.
599W1. Number of complaints made in respect of DLA by letter, telephone or in person:
Number April 1998 to March 1999 4,276 April 1999 to March 2000 10,656 April 2000 to December 2000 10,467 These numbers include complaints about standards of service and cases in which dissatisfaction has been expressed with the outcome of benefit decisions.
There has been a steady increase in the number of complaints throughout this period. Between April 1999 and June 2000, this can be attributed to an increase in work on hand before and after the introduction of DMA and it should be noted that the figures have steadily decreased each month since July 2000. Changes to DLA procedures led initially to a significant increase in the time taken to process each case, which created a temporary backlog of work. This was tackled as a priority and is now under control.
The information about DLA Ombudsman cases and special payments is not kept separately from Attendance Allowance (AA) cases.
2. Number of DLA and AA cases investigated by the Ombudsman:
Number April 1998 to March 1999 137 April 1999 to March 2000 119 April 2000 to January 2001 149 3. The total number of DLA and AA Specia1 Payments made:
Number April 1998 to March 1999 535 April 1999 to March 2000 659 April 2000 to January 2001 869 4. The value of DLA and AA Special Payments:
£ Highest award Average award April 1998 to March 1999 10,000 499.00 April 1999 to March 2000 7,134.50 262.14 April 2000 to January 2001 14,556.50 320.75 I hope this is helpful.