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Column 625
Scottish Women's AidSheffield University
Social Security Advisory Committee
Social Security Medical Appeal Tribunals N.I.
Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen Family Association
Solicitors Family Law Association
Spastics Society
Stepfamily
The Childrens' Society
Thamesdown Law Centre
TUC
University College London
Wages For Housework Campaign
Wandsworth Social Services Department/Welfare Rights Unit Welsh Womens Aid Trust
West Yorkshire Probation Service
Womens National Commission
Womens Aid Federation
Wythenshawe Law Centre
Benefit Statistics
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the number of households receiving the following benefits (a) housing benefit, (b) community charge benefit, (c) family credit and (d) income support ; and if he will list the figures separately for those households in which the head of household is (i) in full-time employment and (ii) in part-time employment.
Mr. Burt : The information is not available in the precise form requested. The available information as at May 1991 is as follows :
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Number of households with earnings
|Thousands
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Housing Benefit |330
Community Charge Benefit |641
Income Support cases with earnings of claimant |117
Income Support cases with earnings of partner |48
Family Credit (as at July 1992) |430
Notes:
1. Head of the household may not necessarily be the claimant.
2. In income support cases, neither the claimant nor the partner
could have been in employment for more than 24 hours a week.
3. There will be considerable overlap between the benefits, e.g.
the figures given for income support may also include housing
benefit/community charge benefit.
4. Information on earnings is collected separately for a claimant
or partner in income support cases, although there may be some
overlap.
5. All figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
Housing Benefit
Mr. Raynsford : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average amount of housing benefit paid each week to (a) tenants receiving income support and (b) other housing benefit recipients not receiving income support, who are respectively (i) local authority tenants, (ii) housing association tenants and (iii) other tenants in Great Britain and in each region of Great Britain.
Mr. Burt : The latest information, for May 1991, is set out in the table.
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Housing benefit Housing benefit
with income support without income
support
Region |Weekly average |Weekly average |Weekly average |Weekly average
|benefit for local |benefit for private|benefit for local |benefit for private
|authority tenants |tenants |authority tenants |tenants
|£ |£ |£ |£
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
South East |29.67 |40.18 |20.66 |26.72
London |35.87 |47.62 |28.83 |31.46
North |22.74 |30.18 |14.94 |20.46
Wales |26.14 |32.31 |17.86 |24.21
Scotland |23.05 |34.51 |16.09 |21.95
Yorkshire and Humberside |21.48 |30.76 |13.86 |23.44
East Midlands |23.04 |31.29 |14.98 |21.17
East Anglia |25.65 |37.46 |17.82 |26.01
South West |26.91 |37.56 |19.19 |29.24
West Midlands |25.23 |31.69 |18.10 |21.22
North West |24.28 |33.48 |16.70 |21.05
------- |------- |------- |------- |-------
Great Britain |26.16 |37.20 |18.37 |24.98
Note:
The average weekly amount of housing benefit for housing association tenants is included in the amounts for private tenants.
Disability
Ms. Corston : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps he is taking to provide more reliable information about (a) the level of disposable household income of those currently receiving invalidity benefit, (b) the level of disposable income of those claiming, but not receiving, invalidity benefit and (c) the level of disposable income of those from whom entitlement to invalidity benefit has been withdrawn.
Mr. Scott : Information on the income of invalidity benefit claimants is not available as this information is not required to make a decision on the claim. Information on the income of invalidity benefit recipients--but not the other two groups identified by the hon. Member--is
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available from surveys such as the family expenditure survey (FES). The family resources survey, announced in July 1992, will have a larger sample size than the FES and will provide better information in due course.Mr. Wigley : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his practice to provide a direct ministerial answer to letters sent to him by hon. Members relating to the ineffective working of the disability living allowance scheme, and not to transfer such letters to the Benefits Agency.
Mr. Scott : I refer the hon. Member to the reply by the then Prime Minister to the hon. Member for Newport, West (Mr. Flynn) on 6 June 1990, at column 615.
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Social Fund
Mr. Dafis : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will issue new guidelines on the granting of social fund payments to appointed persons in residential homes to cover the funeral costs of deceased residents, to include recommended time scales for dealing with applications and appeals.
Mr. Scott : Everyone taking responsibility for funeral costs is entitled to a funeral payment from the social fund if they satisfy the eligibility criteria. There is no need for special provision for people in residential homes.
The average clearance time for a funeral payment is just over eight days ; but due to the complexity of some cases the Benefits Agency have no recommended time scales for dealing with applications or appeals.
Contributions Records
Sir David Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what sum of money is held at the Newcastle records office unattributed to the contributions record of the specific contributor.
Miss Widdecombe : The amount of moneys held at Newcastle but unattributed to specific contributors is a matter for Miss Ann Chant, the chief executive of the Contributions Agency. She will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Miss A. Chant to Sir David Mitchell, dated 27 October 1992 :
As Chief Executive of the Contributions Agency I am responsible for answering questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State about monies held at Newcastle but unattributed to specific contributors.
This Agency deals with nearly 59 million accounts and recording contributions is almost always done automatically. But we rely on employers and individuals to provide us with the correct identity details. If for some reason we are unable to allocate the individuals' contributions they are held while we make further inquiries. In some cases individual contributors query their National Insurance position and we enlist their help to allocate contributions.
The records we hold of these unallocated contributions constantly shift day by day as items are traced and allocated and further items are added.
I am sorry that the precise information you require is not available. It could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost. I hope that the information I have provided is helpful but because it may not answer all your concerns I will be writing to you shortly to see if I can be of any further assistance.
Contributors Charter and Employers Charter
Ms. Mowlam : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what consultations were undertaken with service users in the course of the production of the contributors charter and the employers charter.
Miss Widdecombe : The consultations undertaken with service users in the course of production of the contributor's and employer's charters is a matter for Miss Ann Chant, the chief executive of the Contributions Agency. She will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.
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Letter from Miss A. Chant to Ms. Marjorie Mowlam, dated 27 October 1992 :As Chief Executive of the Contributions Agency I am responsible for answering questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State about the consultations that were undertaken with service users in the course of production of our Charters.
The Contributions Agency produced a working draft of the Charters which was circulated to the 36 customer organisations with whom we had contact. They were given 2 months to comment and we asked them what they thought about both its style and content. From the replies we received we made several significant amendments and incorporated those in the first versions of the Charters.
The 36 organisations represented accountants, payroll bureaux, large and small employers and the self-employed. The interests of individual contributors were represented by the National Association of Citizen's Advice Bureaux, the TUC and the Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions.
Benefits Agency
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) to what extent Government forecasts of future demands on the staff of the Benefits Agency were wrong in relation to the disability living allowance ; where and by whom the forecasts were made ; and if he will make a statement ;
(2) how many hours of overtime have been worked by staff of the Benefits Agency in processing claims for the disability living allowance and the disability working allowance ; and if he will indicate the equivalent in terms of additional staff ;
(3) what additional resources were made available to the Benefits Agency to deal with the backlog of cases involving claims for the disability living allowance, top-up claims and claims for attendance allowance for people aged over 65 years ; what was the number of cases still awaiting clearance at the end of September ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and copies will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. Alfred Morris, dated 26 October 1992 :
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security about staff dealing with Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
You asked first about the forecasting of future demands upon Benefits Agency staff in relation to DLA. I should explain that the implementation of DLA was planned within the Agency by a discrete Project team based at Fylde. Staffing levels were determined using forecast workloads prepared by the Government's Analytical Services Division, which in turn were built upon the benefit's original policy intentions and some assumptions as to likely take-up rates etc. From this basis it was calculated that around 2,000 staff would be required to administer claims to DLA and Attendance Allowance (AA) for the over 65s. However, the pleasing success of the advertising campaign and the widespread interest from disabled people, attracted a much larger number of applications in the early stages than was predicted.
Whilst at first the take up of new claims to DLA was slow, the intake in March was more than double that forecast. In addition the "Top-Up" claims received by the end of April
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had exceeded the total number forecast for the whole year (137,000) and by the end of September had reached 195,000, an increase of 35 per cent.At the same time the staff in the Disability Benefit Centres, where DLA claims are processed, experienced a surge in claims to AA. Over 55,000 more claims than originally forecast were received in the period February to April, representing an overall increase of 42 per cent. Indeed the total claims activity for DLA (including "Top-ups") and AA for those over 65 during the period February to April inclusive was an intake of 447,000 which represented an increase of 27 per cent. (94,000 claims) over the original estimate of just over 353,000. Consequently, the effects of both the numbers and the rate at which claims were received resulted in backlogs.
As you will know from my recent letter to Members, we have as a result increased the number of staff devoted to handling DLA and AA claims by over 800.
You also asked about overtime. Since the onset of the new benefits almost 420,000 hours of overtime have been worked by staff at the Disability Benefits Centres (DBCs) and the Fylde Unit which is equivalent to around 340 posts in terms of additional staff. I have also established a senior management task force to tackle the arrears and to optimise work flows.
These measures have increased the throughput of new claims considerably, and we are on schedule to clear the backlog shortly. Your third question also asked about number of cases still awaiting clearance at the end of September. The table below gives details of outstanding claims for the months June to September inclusive :--
|New claims|Top-ups |AA
-------------------------------------------------------
June |125,000 |123,000 |153,000
July |117,000 |104,000 |143,000
August |106,000 |79,000 |122,000
September |90,000 |58,000 |90,000
All figures are provisional and may be subject to
amendment.
During the same period, the numbers of claims cleared rose steadily from 15,600 in April to 52,000 in September in the case of DLA claims with 22,700 and 70,500 respectively for AA cases. The clearance of top-up claims remained steady at around 7,000 per week during the months August and September.
Of course there will always be a certain number of cases in action at any one time. We expect this normal on hand level for new claims to be in the region of 50,000 cases for DLA and just below 60,000 for AA.
Finally you also asked how many hours of overtime had been worked by staff in processing claims for Disability Working Allowance. So far no overtime has been worked by staff in processing applications for this benefit.
I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security by what criteria he plans to determine the award of performance-related pay to Michael Bichard, chief executive of the Benefits Agency.
Mr. Burt : Mr. Bichard's entitlement to performance bonus is largely dependent upon the achievement of a range of specific targets which include improving on the performance targets which we set the Benefits Agency each year. These are published in the "Benefits Agency's Business Plan", a copy of which is available in the Library.
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Disability Allowances
Mr. Alfred Morris : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the disability and other organisations from which expressions of concern have been received about delays in processing claims for the disability living allowance.
Mr. Scott : The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and a copy will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. Alfred Morris, dated 26 October 1992 :
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking if he will list the disability and other organisations from which expressions of concern have been received about delays in processing claims for Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
The organisations that have made general enquiries to the DLA Ministers Unit about the delays in processing DLA claims, as opposed to those that have made customer specific enquiries, are attached. I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.
Organisations/Representative bodies who have made general complaints about delays in the processing of DLA claims : Angus Citizens Advice Bureau
Carers National Association
Dartford Unemployed Group
Hampshire County Council
Isle of Wight Spastics Society
Knowsley Care Society
Manufacturing Science Finance Union
Manningham Project
Middlesbrough Law Centre
Motor Neurone Disease Association
Nantwich and District Citizens Advice Bureau
Rugby Citizens Advice Bureau
Shirley Citizens Advice Bureau
Skye and Lochalsh Community Advice Service
Solihull Citizens Advice Bureau
Swansea Citizens Advice Bureau
The Terrence Higgins Trust
Wakefield Centre for the Unemployed
Wear Valley Citizens Advice Bureau (Bishop Auckland)
Wycombe Living Options in Practice
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many special rules claimants have died before receiving benefit from disability living allowance ; and in how many such cases, payment was made after six months from the application.
Mr. Scott : I understand from Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency, that the information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total expenditure for (a) disability living allowance, (b) disability working allowance, (c) mobility allowance and (d) attendance allowance from1 April to 1 October.
Mr. Scott : The information requested is not yet available.
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how analysis of potential take-up benefit was undertaken prior to the introduction of disability living allowance.
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Mr. Scott : The analysis of potential take-up of disability living allowance lower rates was made using data produced in the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys surveys of 1985-88. OPCS questions related to lack of independent mobility were used to produce estimates of the number of potential lower rate mobility beneficiaries. Questions relating to the extent of people's need for help with personal functions and with preparing food were used for the lower rate care component.
Mr. David Marshall : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects the backlog of claims for disability living allowance benefit to be cleared ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member and copies will be placed in the Library.
Letter from Mr. Michael Bichard to Mr. David Marshall, dated 26 October :
As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about when the backlog of claims for Disability Living Allowance (DLA) will be cleared.
I should explain that there are two categories of claims for DLA. Firstly there are claims from people who were not already in receipt of Attendance Allowance or Mobility Allowance when DLA was introduced. Secondly there are applications from people who were in receipt of one of these benefits but who may be entitled to an additional amount under the DLA entitlement rules. These latter applications are known as "top-up" claims. Since February, therefore, when applications began to be accepted for the new benefit, we have been dealing with claims made under the old scheme and processing the new-style claims at the same time.
In the first eight months of live operation over 303,000 new claims and almost 195,000 "top-up" claims were registered.
I wrote to all MPs on 19 October explaining how the backlog has arisen and detailing the measures introduced to deal with it. I am glad to say that these measures have already resulted in a substantial improvement in the speed of claims processing. At the end of September the number of claims still to be dealt with was approaching 90,000 new claims and 58,000 "top- up" claims. This compares with the outstanding figures of 125,000 new claims and 121, 000 "top-up" claims in July. Most significantly, Disability Benefit Centres are now clearing 12,000 claims per week compared with approximately 6,000 per week in June and only about 3,000 per week in April. The clearance of "top-up" claims remained steady at around 7, 000 per week during the months August and September.
I am by no means complacent about the number of applications still to be processed and am currently monitoring the situation closely. I am confident, however, that we will have reached a steady state shortly for new claims and by the end of November for "top-up" claims.
I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy of this reply will appear in the Official Report. Copies are also being placed in the Library.
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