Social Fund

Mr. Willetts
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what proportion of rejected applications to the Social Fund for (a) budgeting loans and (b) crisis loans have been overturned on appeal in each year since 1997; [110912](2) how many applications there have been to the Social Fund for

(a) budgeting loans and (b) crisis loans in each year since 1997; and how many have been rejected in each of th Dse years. [110921]

Mr. Pond
An applicant to the discretionary Social Fund who is dissatisfied with the decision on their application has the right to have the decision reviewed.An internal reviewing officer carries out the initial review at local level, and the applicant is notified of the outcome. Applicants who remain dissatisfied with the result of the local review can ask for a further review by an independent Social Fund Inspector.Information on the number and proportion of applications initially refused, but which resulted in awards following review is not available. Information on the number of applications made and the number which were initially refused is in the table.

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|         |
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|1996–97  |
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|1997–98  |
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|1998–99  |
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|1999–2000|
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|2000–01  |
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|2001–02  |
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|2002–03  |
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Notes: 1. If an application is initially refused, but an award is subsequently made on review, the case will still be counted as an (initial) refusal in the table.2. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.

Source:

DWP Social Fund Policy, Budget and Management Information System