HC Deb 08 January 2001 vol 360 cc471-2W
Mr. Alasdair Morgan

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) how many people in(a) Scotland and (b) the UK, who have previously been awarded a life award of Disability Living Allowance have had their Disability Living Allowance (i) discontinued and (ii) downgraded, following a review, and thereafter reinstated to the original position following an appeal in each year since 1993; [142999]

(2) how many people, who have previously been awarded a life award of Disability Living Allowance at high rate, have had that allowance downgraded following a review, in each year since 1 January 1994. [143539]

Mr. Bayley

The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.

Disability Living Allowance: estimates of the number of reviews of life or indefinite awards where value of award is reduced1,2,3
Year All awards Awards including highest ratecare or higher rate mobility component
1994 600 600
1995 600 600
1996 600 600
1997 3,600 3,400
1998 8,000 7,900
1999 5,000 4,800
2000 1,000 800

1The term 'life award' is a misnomer since such awards have always been subject to change on review if entitlement changes and are not therefore payable for life. A clarification, introduced by the Welfare Reform and Pensions Act 1999, provides that such awards are now described as 'for an indefinite period' instead of, as previously 'for life'.

2Reviews include reconsiderations and supersessions under the new system of decision making and appeals introduced from October 1999.

3Figures for 1994 to 1999 are for the 12 months ending 30 November; those for 2000 are for the six months ending 31 May.

Notes:

1. Information is available only for cases where a review has resulted in a reduction in the award. This gives estimates, based on sampling, of the numbers of life and indefinite awards reduced following a review. The small numbers mean that these estimates are broad and subject to relatively large margins of error.

2. These figures are for Great Britain. Social Security in Northern Ireland is the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and discrete information for Scotland is not available.

Source:

DSS Information Centre: 5 per cent. data.