To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people have been subject to the all work test (a) in Birmingham, (b) in the West Midlands and (c) nationally; what percentage failed the test; how many of those failing the test appealed; how many of the appeals were oral hearings; and what was the success rate for (i) hearings held orally and (ii) other appeals. [31272]

The information is not available in the form requested. Such information as is available is set out in the table.

April 1995 to 30 September 1997 inclusive	Birmingham	West Midlands	National
Number who have been subject to the All Work Test (AWT)	57,028	182,552	2,899,127
Number who have failed the AWT	9,922	26,333	415,957
Percentage AWT failure rate	17	14	14

Since its introduction in April 1995, the number of people who have appealed against the All Work Test is 11,294 in West Midlands region and 101,559 nationally.Of the 8,238 appeals heard and decided in the West Midlands region, 3,791 were in the appellant's favour. Nationally, the figure was 78,402 of which 35,873 were in appellant's favour.The percentage of appeals decided in the appellant's favour was 46 per cent. for West Midlands and 45.8 per cent. nationally.