§ Mr. WeirTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many successful appeals there have been against suspension of benefits in(a) Angus and (b) Scotland in each of the last five years. [67323]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownDecisions on suspending payment of benefit are discretionary. There is no formal procedure for revising such decisions and there is no right of appeal against them. However, they can be changed in the light of any relevant new evidence or information submitted to the Department.
§ Mr. WeirTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what criteria are used by officers at the local offices of the Department in deciding on suspension of benefits. [67259]
(2) how many people who have had benefits suspended in the last five years in (a) the Angus constituency and (b) Scotland have had them reinstated following investigation. [67255]
(3) if he will provide a breakdown of the reasons for suspension of benefits in (a) the Angus constituency and (b) Scotland in each of the last five years. [67256]
(4) how many suspensions of benefits were reversed following evidence of the medical condition of the applicant in (a) the Angus constituency and (b) Scotland in each of the last five years; [67257]
(5) how many claimants had their benefits suspended in (a) the Angus constituency and (b) Scotland in each of the last five years. [67258]
(6) what the average time taken to re-instate benefits following suspension was in (a) the Angus constituency and (b) Scotland in each of the last five years. [67260]
(7) if he will provide a breakdown of the type of benefit suspended in each of the last five years in (a) the Angus constituency and (b) Scotland. [67319]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownIt is a long-standing principle that people receiving benefit have a responsibility to confirm their continuing entitlement on a periodic basis. Where a person may have failed to meet that obligation, it is right that payment of benefit should be suspended.
Benefit may be suspended in whole or in part and the suspension continues until the decision maker is able to make a substantive decision on entitlement. If the substantive decision results in no entitlement or a reduced entitlement, the fact that payments have been suspended means that an overpayment is avoided. If the doubt is resolved in a person's favour, payments are restored and arrears paid. Decisions on suspending payment of benefit are discretionary. There is no formal procedure for revising such decisions, but they can be changed in the light of any relevant new evidence or information submitted to the Department.
The Suspension and Termination Guide sets out the guidance for those who take decisions on suspending payment of benefit, and includes advice about the criteria to be applied. A copy has been placed in the Library.
758WNo information is collected centrally on benefit suspensions.
§ Mr. WeirTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what assessment he has made of the effect on those whose benefit has been suspended in full for failing to keep an appointment at Jobcentres from the time of suspension to reinstatement of benefits; [67320]
(2) if he will introduce a sliding scale of penalties, short of immediate suspension of benefit, for those who have failed to adhere to provisions relating to appointments at Jobcentres; [67324]
(3) how many claimants, broken down by age group, have had benefits suspended in (a) the Angus constituency and (b) Scotland in each of the last five years for failing to keep an appointment at a Jobcentre; [67325]
(4) what guidance has been given to local Jobcentres on the suspension of benefits from those who fail to keep appointments. [67326]
§ Mr. Nicholas BrownIt is a long-standing principle that people claiming jobseeker's allowance have a responsibility to confirm their continuing entitlement to benefit by attending the Jobcentre fortnightly and also by keeping other appointments arranged to help with their job search. Where a person may have failed to meet those obligations, it is right that payment of benefit should be suspended.
When making a decision about suspending benefit, staff in Jobcentres have access to the "Suspension and Termination Guide for Decision Makers" and the "Labour Market Conditions Guide" which gives advice on procedures. This advises that where someone has failed to attend an appointment, benefit should be suspended at the end of that day. The person may then contact the office within five days to show good cause for failing to attend. Examples of good cause include domestic emergencies, attending a job interview or illness. If good cause is demonstrated, then the suspension is lifted and payment made. If not, then the claim is terminated from the day of non-attendance.
No departmental research has been undertaken on suspensions of benefit and no information is collected centrally on the number of people who have had their benefit suspended.
We keep all our policies under review. However, we have no plans to change the current arrangements under which benefit can be suspended.
§ Mr. WeirTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many persons in receipt of(a) disability living allowance, (b) incapacity benefit and (c) carer's allowance in (i) Angus and (ii) Scotland have also been in receipt of housing benefit in each of the last five years. [67322]
§ Malcolm WicksInformation is not available in the format requested. The available information for Housing Benefit recipients in Scotland for each of the last five years is in the tables. The samples on which this information is based are too small to provide reliable figures for individual constituencies.
759W
Housing benefit recipients in Scotland who also received either disability living allowance, incapacity benefit or invalid care allowance in May of each year from 1996 to 2000 Recipients with Disability May Disability living allowance Incapacity benefit Invalid care allowance 1996 62,000 74,000 15,000 1997 72,000 70,000 14,000 1998 78,000 72,000 15,000 1999 79,000 72,000 16,000 2000 82,000 66,000 17,000 Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand and include cases where the partner of the recipient of housing benefit also receives the relevant other benefit.
2. Individuals can receive housing benefit, disability living allowance and incapacity benefit and such cases will be recorded twice in the table. The figures in the columns should accordingly not be added together.
Source:
Housing Benefit Management Information System, annual 1 per cent. sample.