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Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a breakdown by number and percentage of the total number of claims for disability working allowance received by his Department that were refused on the grounds that (a) the claimant was not in remunerative work, (b) the claimant's income was above the limit, (c) the claimant was not in receipt of a qualifying benefit, (d) the claimant was receiving family credit, (e) the joint income of the claimant and his or her partner exceeded the limit, (f) the claimant was working less than 16 hours a week or (g) for other reasons.
Column 632
Mr. Scott : By 16 October the total number and percentage of claims refused in each category was as follows :
|Percentage
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not in work or working less than 16 hours
a week |10,208 |59
Income of claimant and partner exceeds
DWA level |1,929 |11
No qualifying benefit |4,455 |26
Receiving family credit |409 |2
Other reasons |425 |2
Mr Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what measures were taken by his Department, and when, to identify people recieving severe disablement allowance or with underlying entitlement to severe disablement allowance following their transfer to retirement pension who became eligible for the age-related addition introduced in Decembre 1990; and if he will make it his policy that no one will lose out due to ignorance of their entitlement.
Mr. Scott : In August 1990 DSS local offices identified and arranged to pay, from 3 December 1990, all severe disablement allowance (SDA) recipients entitled to an age-related addition. A check of national insurance records was made in May 1992 to identify those retirement pension recipients, with an underlying entitlement to SDA, who had not received an age addition.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects to publish the findings of research commissioned by his Department on invalidity benefit ; what is the total cost of this research ; and how he plans to use it.
Mr. Scott : The Department has commissioned a number of related research studies about invalidity benefit. The findings of an international comparative study of the growth in incapacity benefit caseloads were presented to the Beveridge anniversary conference in September. Fieldwork for some of the remaining studies is still in progress, and it is not yet known when the findings will be published. The research will cost £320,000. It is designed to explain the growth in invalidity benefit caseloads and to improve forecasts of the numbers receiving the benefit.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total number of appeals heard by disability appeal tribunals to date ; and if he will provide a breakdown of these by (a) outstanding mobility allowance, (b) outstanding attendance allowance and (c) disability living allowance and attendance allowance, post-February 1992 appeals.
Mr. Scott : I refer the hon. Member to the reply to him given to him by my hon. Friend on 13 July at column 455 .
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a breakdown of the numbers awarded the disability living allowance to date by (a) those awarded the higher rate of the care component, (b) those awarded the middle rate of the care component, (c) those awarded the lower rate of the care component, (d) those awarded the higher rate of the mobility component and (e) those awarded the lower rate of the mobility component.
Column 633
Mr. Scott : Following is the information requested.
Number of awards of each component of disability living allowance
made at 30 September
|Number
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) |Higher rate care |25,000
(b) |Middle rate care |34,000
(c) |Lower rate care |73,000
(d) |Higher rate mobility|75,000
(e) |Lower rate mobility |75,000
These figures include new claims and "top up" claims from existing attendance allowance or mobility allowance beneficiaries. All figures are provisional and may be subject to amendment.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average award of invalidity benefit (a) for all claimants, (b) for single people, (c) for childless couples and (d) for couples and/or single parents with dependants.
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average weekly payment of invalidity benefit for a single person and a married couple at the latest date for which figures are available.
Mr. Scott : The information is not available in the form requested. The average weekly payment of invalidity benefit as at 30 March 1991( ) was £67.40.
Notes :
The latest date for which figures are available ; information from a 1 per cent. sample of claimants.
Separate information is not available for single people and couples.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing the number and percentage of recipients of invalidity benefit who are also in receipt of income support.
Mr. Scott : Available information is in the table :
|Number
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of invalidity benefit recipients on
30 March 1991<1> |1,306,000
Number of income support claimants, in receipt of
invalidity benefit, in May 1991<2> |104,000
Number of income support claimant's partners in
receipt of invalidity benefit, in May 1991<2> |7,000
Notes:
<1>Information from 1 per cent. sample of claimants.
<2>Information from the annual statistical enquiry.
Mr. Flinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what would be the savings of his Department of freezing invalidity benefit and the numbers of people who would become eligible for income support as a result.
Mr. Scott : The answer would depend on the assumptions made by the hon. Member.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average income of people in receipt of invalidity benefit as a percentage of average full-time earnings among men and women employees.
Column 634
Mr. Scott : Information is not available in the form requested. The average gross weekly income of benefits units in which there is at least one IVB recipient is £155 . This represents 65 per cent. of the average weekly earnings of adults in full time work.
A benefit unit is a single adult or a couple, together with any children dependent on the adult(s) who are entitled to claim benefit in their own right.
Source : Family Expenditure Survey 1989.
Source : New Earnings Survey 1989.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a breakdown of successful disability working allowance applicants by (a) average hourly earnings, (b) average hours worked, (c) average age, (d) sex, (e) marital status, (f) householder status and (g) qualifying benefit.
Mr. Scott : Information on the householder status of applicants is not available. The table provides estimated figures derived from an analysis of successful claims up to 31 August.
|Estimated figures
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Average hourly earnings |£2.92
Average hours worked a week |30
Average age |37
Number of awards to men |1,089
Number of awards to women |765
Number of awards to single people |1,120
Number of awards to couples |734
Qualifying benefits:<1>
Invalidity benefit |240
Severe disablement allowance |66
Income support with disability premium |128
Housing benefit with disability premium |20
Community charge benefit with disability premium |56
Lower rate disability living allowance |161
Higher rate disability living allowance and attendance allowance |1,183
<1> Applicants may have more than one qualifying benefit.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims for attendance allowance and mobility allowance were made (a) in the six months prior to February 1992 and (b) in the six months prior to February 1991.
Mr. Scott : The information is as follows :
|Attendance allowance|Mobility allowance
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
August 1991-January 1992 |283,000 |118,000
August 1990-January 1991 |209,000 |85,000
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many invalidity benefit recipients there are by age, sex, household, and marital status.
Mr. Scott : Available information is in the table. This shows the number of invalidity recipients on 30 March 1991, the latest date for which information is available.
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b Age |Men |Women |Married women|Other women |All persons -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All ages |976,100 |329,900 |225,600 |104,300 |1,306,000 Under 20 |200 |200 |- |200 |400 20-29 |24,800 |28,400 |17,200 |11,200 |53,200 30-39 |60,000 |49,700 |33,600 |16,100 |109,700 40-49 |125,600 |75,100 |53,300 |21,800 |200,700 50-59 |291,500 |139,500 |99,600 |39,900 |431,000 60 and over |474,000 |37,000 |21,900 |15,100 |511,000 Note: Information from a 1 per cent. sample of claimants.
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims for the disability working allowance were recieved by his Department in each month since its introduction.
Mr. Scott : I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Glasgow, Garscadden (Mr. Dewar) on 19 October at column 173.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the current claim pack for disability living allowance is to be replaced by the revised version ; and if he will provide details of his Department's plans to monitor the impact of the changes in the revised pack and state when and where the results of such monitoring will be published.
Mr. Scott : As part of our continuing efforts to meet the needs of customers, improved claim packs for disability living allowance (DLA) and attendance allowance (AA) will be available in November. In monitoring the effectiveness of the claim packs we engage in an ongoing dialogue with disabled people themselves and their organisations.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much has been spent in total by his Department to date on publicity for disability living allowance and disability working allowance ; and if he will publish a breakdown by type of medium used.
Mr. Scott : The Department has spent a total of £7,227,304 on publicity for disability living allowance and disability working allowance. The breakdown by medium is as shown :
'
|£
---------------------------------------
Advertising |3,288,149
Exhibitions |74,850
Film/video |562,816
Marketing/response |1,947,448
Publications |1,026,685
Research |327,356
|----
Total |7,227,304
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications for the disability working allowance have been recieved by the Department to date; and if he will provide a breakdown by (a)the number and percentage of these that resulted in an award, (b) the number and percentage of these that were refused and (c) the number and percentage of these that are awaiting a decision.
Mr. Scott : By 16 October 1992 the number of claims for disability working allowance received was 21,174 ; and the
Column 636
number of awards made was 2,401, 11 per cent ; the number of claims refused was 17,426, 82 per cent. and the number of claims awaiting a decision because further information was needed to assess the claim was 619, 3 per cent. ; the remainder of claims were withdrawn by the claimant before a decision was made.Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table showing the number and percentage of invalidity benefit recipients who are in receipt of other sources of income by source and average amount of such other income.
Mr. Scott : Information is not available in the form requested. Available information is shown in the table.
Table: Benefit Unit with an IVB Recipient: Sources and Amount of
Components of Gross Income, 1989
Source of Income |Percentage of |Average amount of
|benefit units with |income, for those
|at least one member|in receipt of given
|on IVB in receipt |source of income
|of other named
|source of income
|per cent. |£
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IVB |100 |59
Occupational
pensions |43 |60
Investment income |62 |21
Income support |6 |23
Housing benefit/rent
rebate |35 |16
Community charge
benefit (Scotland
only) |6 |6
Other social security
pensions and
benefits |18 |8
Earnings |24 |129
Other income |86 |20
Gross income |100 |155
Source: Family Expenditure Survey, 1989.
Notes:
1. Gross income is income received by a benefit unit in which there is at least
one IVB recipient, and includes all social security benefits and pensions. A
benefit unit is a single adult or couple, together with any children dependent on
the adult(s), who are entitled to claim benefit in their own right.
2. Average amounts of income are gross of tax and NI contributions, and are
rounded to the nearest £1.
3. CCB was only applicable to Scotland in 1989.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people choose to remain on invalidity benefit after reaching retirement age ; and if he will provide an estimate of the savings to his Department in each of the years up to and including 1997-98 if the right of invalidity benefit recipients to remain on invalidity after reaching retirement age were removed.
Column 637
Mr. Scott : The number of invalidity benefit recipients over retirement age on 31 March 1991--the latest date for which information is available--is :
|Number
---------------------------
Men |200,900
Women |37,000
|--------
Total |237,900
There would be no savings to the Department if the right of invalidity benefit recipients to choose to remain on the benefit after reaching retirement age were removed. The rate of benefit payable to invalidity benefit recipients over retirement age is based on their entitlement to the retirement pension which would then be put into payment.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many awards of the higher rate mobility component made since 3 February were made (a) on the ground that the person was severely mentally impaired and displayed severe behavioural problems and (b) under the deaf-blind provisions.
Mr. Scott : Number of people awarded the higher rate mobility at 30 September :
(a) On grounds of severe mental impairment and severe behavioural problems : 715
(b) Under deaf-blind provisions : 62
Column 638
Includes new claims and "top up" claims from existing attendance allowance and mobility allowance beneficiaries.All figures are provisional and may be subject to amendment.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will provide a breakdown of successful disability working allowance applicants by (a) people already working and (b) people who started working shortly before making an application for benefit.
Mr. Scott : Information is not available to say how many disability working allowance recipients were previously in employment. Of the 2, 401 people who had claimed successfully up to 16 October, we estimate that 27 per cent. had received invalidity benefit, severe disablement allowance or a disability premium with income support, housing benefit or community charge benefit in the eight weeks before claiming disability working allowance.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims for invalidity benefit and severe disablement allowance were referred to the regional medical services in each month since January 1991 ; how many of these cases resulted in medical examinations ; and what were the outcome (a) where examinations took place and (b) where they did not.
Mr. Scott : The information is not available in the form requested. Such information as is available is in the table.
Column 637
References to the regional medical services cleared between quarters ending March 1991 and March 1992.
|31 March 1991 |30 June 1991 |30 September 1991|31 December 1991 |31 March 1992
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Incapable of work
(without
examination) |135,750 |132,820 |156,842 |120,192 |127,745
Claim terminated before
examination-no
opinion given |1,840 |2,282 |3,625 |1,716 |3,571
Failed to attend
examination |17,576 |14,062 |14,347 |17,045 |14,664
Incapable of work (after
examination) |47,154 |41,125 |43,507 |40,182 |51,545
Capable of work (after
examination) |10,188 |8,525 |9,008 |8,188 |9,332
Capable of work within
limits (after
examination) |14,024 |11,753 |12,920 |10,512 |14,785
Total number of
references cleared |226,532 |210,567 |240,249 |197,835 |221,642
Note: Information relates to references for all incapacity benefits.
Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the average amount of benefit recieved by long-term sick and disabled people in each member state of the European Community expressed in pounds sterling.
Mr. Scott : Comparable information for each member state of the European Community is not available.
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what number and percentage of (a) first claims (b) renewal claims and (c) requests for a review of attendance allowance and mobility allowance received by his Department prior to 3 February remain outstanding ; how many have been decided ; and what number and percentage of reviews decided resulted in the award of the lower rate of (i) the care component, (ii) the mobility component and (iii) both components of the disability living allowance.
Mr. Scott : The information requested is not available.
Column 638
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications for (a) mobility allowance and (b) attendance allowance were refused, annually, for each year since 1985.
Mr. Scott : The information is as follows :
T
|Mobility allowance |Attendance allowance
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1985 |50,000 |71,000
1986 |61,000 |76,000
1987 |61,000 |92,000
1988 |72,000 |111,000
1989 |78,000 |101,000
1990 |85,000 |93,000
1991 |90,000 |108,000
Figures rounded to nearest thousand
Mr. Hinchliffe : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what was the total expenditure for (a) mobility allowance and (b) attendance allowance from 1 April to 1 October 1991.
Mr. Scott : The information is not available in the form requested.
Estimated expenditure for each benefit in the 1991-92 financial year was :
|£ million
---------------------------------------------
(a) Mobility allowance |1,061
(b) Attendance allowance |1,706
Mr. Hinchliffe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many applications have been recieved for disability working allowance; and how many, to date, have been successful.
Mr. Scott : Up to 16 October 21,174 applications for disability working allowance had been received and 2,401 awards made.
John Gardner
Mr. Michael : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he expects that Mr. John Gardner of 115 Countisbury avenue, Llanrumney, Cardiff, will have a response to his application for mobility allowance, now being treated as an application for disabled living allowance.
Mr. Scott : The administration of disability living allowance is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. As the application is a personal and confidential matter, he will reply direct to the hon. Member.
Miners' Redundancy Payments
Mr. Austin Mitchell : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the age distribution of the miners to be made redundant ; and how long their redundancy payments are likely to last before they qualify for social security.
Mr. Burt : Information on the age distribution of miners who are affected by redundancy is a matter for British Coal.
The effect of redundancy payments on entitlement to social security benefits will depend on the nature of the payment and on the type of benefit claimed.
Most social security benefits are not affected by statutory redundancy pay, or similar payments intended as compensation for loss of employment. However, in the income-related benefits, such payments are treated as capital and may affect entitlement.
Fraudulent Claims
Mr. Cryer : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the estimated amount of money claimed fraudulently from his Department in 1991 ; what is the basis of the estimate ; and what action he has taken to recover the estimated amount.
Miss Widdecombe : The total sum claimed fraudulently from the Department is not known. The Benefits Agency
Column 640
has a target which is based on detected fraud. In 1991-92 £427 million was estimated to have been saved. This estimate is derived from(1) the calculation of the weekly amount of benefit being claimed wrongfully when action by fraud investigators put a stop to the fraud or irregularity ;
(2) the conversion of this weekly amount to an estimated overall saving ;
(3) the actual value of benefit saved by the termination or prevention of an instrument of payment irregularity.
The multiplier used for item 2 was 32. This was based on the estimated average number of weeks the fraud would have continued had fraud staff not stopped it.
The Benefits Agency pursues vigorously the recovery of overpayments of benefit from those who cheat the system. In appropriate cases criminal or civil proceedings will be instituted.
Terminal Illness
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations have been received by his Department from organisations working with terminally ill people on problems with the special rules procedures and the particular difficulties caused to people with terminal illness on account of the delays with the processing of disability living allowance claims ; and if he will make a statement.
Mr. Scott : We receive a large volume of correspondence on disability benefits, some of which comes from organisations involved in the care of terminally ill people and refers to the special rules arrangements. Much of the correspondence applauds the rules, some contains suggestions on further improvements we might make to the procedures. We welcome these representations, which we actively consider.
We have also received representations about delays in dealing with claims in respect of people with a limited life expectancy. Unfortunately, because of the massive influx of claims more generally on disability living allowance and attendance allowance, some delays have occurred in dealing with claims made under the special rules. The Benefits Agency is taking firm action to clear the backlogs and in doing so treat claims for people who are terminally ill as a top priority.
Doctors' Fees
Mr. Flynn : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the fees payable to doctors for each type of medical examination required for adjudication purposes for all social security benefits and for the disablement pension.
Mr. Scott : The fees payable to doctors for medical examinations required for all social security benefits are as follows :
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regional Medical Service |}
Part-time referees |}88.40
Sessional Rate |}
War Pension Medical Board
Consultant members
One Case |54.40
Two Cases |77.60
Sessional Rate |108.70
Examination and Report necessitating a Domiciliary Visit
Chairman and Member of Single Doctor Board:
* up to and including 1.5 hours |37.90
* over 1.5 up to and including 2.5 hours |56.90
* over 2.5 hours |88.40
Second Member:
* up to and including 1.5 hours |33.00
* over 1.5 up to and including 2.5 hours |49.60
* over 2.5 hours |77.10
Medical Board
* per session (2.5 to 3.5 hours):
Chairman |88.40
Members |77.10
single doctor acting as a board |88.40
* per case:
Chairman |31.60
Members |27.50
single doctor acting as a board |31.60
Consultants
* Work in NHS hospital:
Examination and report or treatment
Standard fee per case |54.40
Standard fee per case when hospital laboratory
radiological or other technical facilities are used |81.50
|Sessional fee
|Sessional fee when hospital laboratory or
radiological or other technical facilities are used |163.10
* Work in private consulting rooms
Examination and report or treatment
Standard fee per case |69.90
Per session (3.5 hours) |163.10
Examining Medical Pratitioner Examination for DLA and AA65+
Chairman and Member of single Doctor Board:
* up to and including 1.5 hours |37.90
* over 1.5 up to and including 2.5 hours |56.90
* over 2.5 hours |88.40
Invalidity Benefit
Mr. Dewar : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people were in receipt of the invalidity benefit from each year since 1983-84.
Mr. Scott : The information is in the table :
Year |Beneficiaries (in
|thousands)
------------------------------------------------------
1983-84 |760
1984-85 |825
1985-86 |865
1986-87 |935
1987-88 |1,010
1988-89 |1,100
1989-90 |1,190
1990-91 |1,265
1991-92 |1,325
Source: 1992 Departmental Report and earlier Public
Expenditure White papers.
Mr. Dewar: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what his Department's expenditure in invalidity benefit has been, in cash and constant prices, for each year from 1983-84, until the latest year for which figures are available; and what is the expected outturn expenditure on invalidity benefit for 1992-93.
Mr. Scott : The table shows expenditure on invalidity benefit for Great Britain at cash and constant 1992-93 prices in each year from 1983-84 to 1992-93.
Year |Cash |1992-93 prices
|£ million |£ million
------------------------------------------------------------
1983-84 |1,972 |3,123
1984-85 |2,142 |3,403
1985-86 |2,249 |3,386
1986-87 |2,673 |3,896
1987-88 |2,968 |4,103
1988-89 |3,359 |4,331
1989-90 |3,837 |4,642
1990-91 |4,431 |4,955
<1>1991-92 |5,255 |5,491
<2>1992-93 |5,695 |5,695
<1> Estimated outturn only.
<2> Planned expenditure.
Computer Projects
Mr. Pendry : To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a table setting out for the period since 9 April (a) each tender issued by his Department for projects requiring the supply of (i) computer hardware and (ii) computer software, (b) a description of the services required, (c) the number of companies which were invited to tender, (d) the number of companies which submitted a bid without prior invitation by his Department, (e) which company was awarded the contract, (f) the value of each contract and (g) the length of period over which the contract will run.
Miss Widdecombe : The tenders issued by the Department for computer hardware and software since 9 April 1992 are as shown in the table. We have not supplied information on the value of the contracts as to do so could be a breach of commercial confidentiality.
Column 643
a(i)(ii) Hardware |(b) Description |(c) Number of |(d) Bids from |(e) Contract awarded |(g) Length of
(H/W) Software |companies invited |companies without |to: |contract
(S/W) |to tender |invitation
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S/W |Contributions Agency-Civil recoveries
|system. Supply & development of bespoke |Indefinite:
|software, with installation, training & |Renewable
|maintenance. |1 |None |Linetime Ltd. |annually
S/W |CD-ROM Project. This is a BA initiative
|involving computerisation of training |Future Office
|material & instruction manuals. |6 |None | Systems |Project Specific
S/W |Terminal Emulation s/w package able to run
|all STAP supplier unix platform. Initial
|requirement is for the FAMIS & CSA
|Projects. Future requirements not yet known.|3 |None |ICL |To 1995
H/W |Provision of a networked & upgraded
|computer system for use within Private
|Office. |2 |None |ICL |Project Specific
H/W & S/W |Provision of computer equipment and imple-
|mentation to 7 computer centres for the
|Child Support Agency. |3 |None |IBM |Project Specific
Cabling |Cabling of BA Offices for the FAMIS
|Project. |3 |None |ICL IBM Siemens Nixdorf |1 Year
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