§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) how many(a) income support, (b) incapacity benefit, (c) invalid care allowance, (d) bereavement benefit and (e) severe disablement allowance claimants have had(i)a new claim refused as a result of work focused interview non-attendance and (ii) benefit reduced as a result of failure to attend a repeat work-focused interview, under the Social Security (Jobcentre Plus Interviews) Regulations 2001; [93917]
The impact work focused interviews on benefit claims 22 October 2001 to 22 October 2002 Benefit type Number of initial work focused meetings (WFM) booked Number of claims not pursued1 (percentage of WFM booked Trigger meetings booked2 Customers sanctioned (percentage of trigger meetings booked) Income Support 11,403 32(0.3) 672 53(7.9) Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance3 16,877 127(0.8) 48 0(0) Invalid Care Allowance 1,900 9(0.5) 5 0(0) Bereavement Benefit 82 0(0) 2 0(0) 1 LMS does not distinguish between those claims not pursued because of failure to attend a work-focused interview and those not pursued for other reasons, eg found other work, sickness, withdrew claim. 2 Trigger meetings occur after either a specific period of time (eg three years for Incapacity Benefit customers) or when a specified event occurs (eg starting part time work). With Jobcentre Plus Pathfinders only opening in October 2001 very few Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Invalid Care Allowance or Bereavement Benefit recipients have been called for a trigger meeting so far. 3 LMS does not have separate data on Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance claims. Source:
Labour Market System (LMS)