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Disability Living Allowance

Volume 222: debated on Thursday 2 April 1992

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To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security whether for the case of Mr. Christopher Fenton (NL 02 20 33 C) he will set out (a) the date of application for disability living allowance, (b) the date of any subsequent appeal and (c) the date of the decision on the appeal.

The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to my hon. Friend and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Letter from David Riggs to Mr. Robert B. Jones, dated I April 1993:

As chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is the responsibility of Mr. Michael Bichard to answer questions raised about relevant operational matters. However, as Mr. Bichard is away at the moment I am replying on his behalf to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking whether for the case of Mr. Christopher Fenlon (NL 02 20 33 C) he will set out (a) the date of application for DLA, (b) the date of any subsequent appeal and (c) the date of the decision on the appeal.

Mr. Tenion applied for DLA on 17 June 1992. The claim was received on 7 July. On 11 August he requested a review of the decision dated 27 July. A decision was made on the review on 19 January 1993.

I have written to you separately and in greater detail about this matter.

I hope that you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects that Ms Margaret Owen, of Mullins avenue, Rumney, Cardiff, NI number NX 304327A, will receive a copy of her medical records requested on 18 January in relation to her claim for disability living allowance.

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 David Riggs to Mr. Rhodri Morgan, dated 1 April 1993:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is the responsibility of Mr. Michael Bichard to answer questions about relevant operational matters. However, as Mr. Bichard is away at the moment I am replying on his behalf to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security about when he expects that Ms Margaret Owen, 25 Mullins Avenue, Rumney, Cardiff, will receive a copy of her medical records requested on 18th January in relation to her claim for disability living allowance.

I have written to you separately and in greater detail about this matter.

I apologise for the delay in sending the evidence to Ms Owen. Staff are aware of the need to respond quickly to requests from our customers for such information.

You will be aware from Mr. Bichard's letter of 19 October 1992 to all MPs of the problems the Benefits Agency has faced since the launch of DLA and the positive steps taken to improve the situation. Since then we have taken further steps to improve the service to our customers including recruiting additional, and redeploying existing, staff to clear the backlog of reviews and four remote processing units have been set up using staff from other parts of the Benefits Agency. Taken together these steps will enable us to give the standard of service to which every customer is entitled and which we want to deliver.

Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention. I hope that you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will also he placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims for disability living allowance received in each month since April 1992 are still outstanding; if he will give a breakdown of the figures month by month since the introduction of the benefit; and what steps he is taking to clear up the backlog of outstanding claims.

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 David Riggs to Ms Mildred Gordon, dated 1 April 1993:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is the responsibility of Mr. Michael Bichard to answer questions about relevant operational matters. However, as Mr. Bichard is away at the moment I am replying on his behalf to your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking how many claims for disability living allowance received in each month since April 1992 are still outstanding; if he will give a breakdown of the figures month by month since the introduction of the benefit; and what steps he is taking to clear up the backlog of outstanding claims.

The table below supplies the number of DLA claims (including Special Rules) registered by month and the number of cases outstanding by month of receipt. However, there will always be some cases which although received in one month will not be registered until the following month.

Month

Registered

Cases outstanding by month of receipt

April 199250,515182
May 199245,376172
June 199237,640162
July 199236,105142
August 199232,404143
September 199235,570148
October 199238,339259
November 199236,867503
December 199228,902812
January 199334,4161,949
February 199338,1047,131
Outstanding cases as of 26 March 1993.

DLA management have urgently drawn up a Service Delivery Plan to target older claims received prior to 1 December 1992 to ensure that they are cleared as quickly as possible.

Of course there will always be a very small percentage of claims where customers or external medical professionals are unable to furnish the information required to clear cases within a period of some months.

The Service Delivery Plan also ensures 60 per cent. of new claims are cleared within 30 days in line with the national primary target for DLA. This national target is being consistently achieved.

To answer the second part of your question I have listed below the measures taken to clear the backlog of claims. These include:

  • To increase the number of staff in DLA and AA65 + operations by over 800;
  • Sanctioning overtime in all Disability Benefit Centres and Units—equivalent to approximately a further 300 more staff;
  • Redeployment of staff from other parts of the Benefits Agency to speed claims processing;
  • Establishing, staffing and equipping additional three processing units to handle new claims and so relieve some pressures on existing units;
  • A review of operations to improve efficiency by rationalising procedures.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report and a copy will be placed in the Library.