asked Her Majesty's Government:What proportion of claims for supplementary benefit are processed within the statutory limit of 14 days, and what action is being taken to shorten the waiting period for claimants.

The information requested is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. Local office staff understand the need to deal with claims promptly and the time taken to process claims is monitored constantly at local, regional and national levels. For the four weeks ending 12th January 1988 the average time taken to process claims to supplementary benefit was six days.