§ Mr. ChopeTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the appeal by Mrs. B. E. Jones of Verwood, Dorset against refusal of Disability Living Allowance will be heard; and if he will make a statement. [153040]
§ Mr. BayleyThe administration of appeals is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Appeals Service, Mr. Neil Ward. He will write to the hon. Member.
Letter from Neil Ward to Mr. Christopher Chope, dated 12 March 2001:
The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked, me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question. You asked when the appeal of Mrs B. E. Jones of Verwood, Dorset against refusal of disability living allowance would be heard.I can tell you that Mrs Jones' appeal against refusal of disability living allowance has been listed for hearing at 10.00am, Tuesday 20th March 2001, at Bournemouth.The Appeals Service received the appeal for submission for Mrs Jones on 27 September 2000. On 19 October Mrs Jones sent the Benefits Agency (BA) some further evidence. The evidence was considered by a decision maker in the BA but the decision was not changed.On 5 March, Mrs Jones was informed that her appeal hearing was scheduled for hearing at 10.00am on 20 March at the Bournemouth venue.On 6 March, the representative phoned saying that Mrs Jones knew the doctor. Rather than postponing her case we have changed the doctor assigned to the session so that Mrs Jones' hearing could proceed.There was some delay in arranging the hearing for Mrs Jones and I would be grateful if you would pass on my apologies to Mrs Jones for this. We have been working hard in the Appeals Service to reduce the time it takes to bring appellants' cases to hearing. For the most part we have been successful and we are on track to meet the target set by the Secretary of State to arrange hearings within 14 weeks of the date the appeal is received in the Appeals Service.That said, the time taken to arrange an appeal is dependent on a number of factors. This includes the number of appeals waiting for a hearing, the number of members required to sit at the hearing, 579W whether further evidence is required that would assist the tribunal in reaching its decision, the availability of the venue and the suitability of the type of hearing.I hope this information is helpful.