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Myalgic Encephalitis

Mr. Levitt: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the number of myalgic encephalitis sufferers who (a) were in receipt of disability living allowance, (b) were appealing against being turned down for disability living allowance or having it withdrawn and (c) had successfully appealed against a decision to refuse payment of disability living allowance at the latest date for which figures are available. [76222]

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Mr. Bayley: Figures are not available in the form requested. The available information for a wider group of people, those with Chronic Fatigue Syndromes including myalgic encephalomyelitis and post viral conditions, is in the table.

People claiming Disability Living Allowance whose main disabling condition is chronic fatigue syndrome

	Number
People in receipt of benefit at 31 August 1998	8,900
First awards of benefit between 1 April 1992 and 31 August 1998
All first awards	10,300
awards on initial claim	6,500
awards resulting from review	2,600
awards resulting from appeal	1,300

Notes:

1. People for whom myalgic encephalitis is not their main disabling condition may also receive Disability Living Allowance

2. Figures do not sum owing to rounding

Source:

Analytical Services Division: 5 per cent. data

Health and Safety

Mr. Dawson: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Trillium in managing health and safety issues within the DSS Estate. [77185]

Angela Eagle: Prior to awarding the contract, Trillium's credentials and proposals for managing health and safety across the DSS estate were scrupulously examined by an independent Health and Safety assessor and found to be robust and comprehensive. Post contract, Trillium now have fully trained and qualified health and safety professionals in place throughout the country. Their performance is rigorously monitored by a dedicated contract management team which includes a fully qualified in-house health and safety professional together with a team of technical auditors.

All Trillium's practises and processes are closely monitored to ensure their effectiveness. We are satisfied that all contractual and statutory duties are being met and that they are fully competent to manage health and safety on behalf of the Department.

Benefits (Ministerial Discretion)

Mr. Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what guidance is used by Ministers in determining requests to exercise discretion in relation to individual benefit cases; and if he will place a copy of that guidance in the Library; [76239]

(2) on what grounds the Secretary of State rejected the request by the hon. Member for Mid-Worcestershire to use his discretion in the case of the overpayment of benefit to Ms Linda Knight of 42 Stalls Farm Road, Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire; and if he will make a statement. [76237]

Mr. Timms: In individual cases of overpayments the Secretary of State can apply his discretion in relation to the recovery of the overpayment. This discretion is exercised only where recovery would cause extreme hardship. Guidance is contained in "Government Accounting", a copy of which is held in the House of Commons Library.

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Pensions

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in what circumstances he proposes to make contracting out of the state second pension compulsory. [76154]

Mr. Timms: None.

Bereavement Benefits

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will estimate the numbers of (a) widows and (b) widowers who will be claiming income support with the bereavement premium in each of the first five years after implementation of his proposals for bereavement support as set out in paragraph 1 of his consultation paper on bereavement support. [76103]

Angela Eagle: It is estimated that there will be (a) fewer than 5,000 widows and (b) fewer than 5,000 widowers who claim Income Support with the Bereavement Premium in each of the first five years after implementation of our proposals.

Notes:

1. The estimates presented above are broad orders of magnitude. They are rounded to the nearest 10,000 and are our best estimate of the number who might be in receipt of the premium, but are subject to a wide range of uncertainty.

2. Estimates assume that a constant proportion of those affected by the proposed changes to Bereavement Benefits move onto Income Support with the IS bereavement premium.

3. Estimates use information from the 1995-96 Family Resources Survey, the Income Support Quarterly Statistical Enquiry and forecasts from the Government Actuary's Department concerning the number of men and women affected by the proposed changes.

Mr. Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if it is his policy that widows and widowers who are bereaved below the age of 55 years will be entitled to claim the proposed income support bereavement premium on reaching the age of 55 years if the qualifying conditions for the premium apply on the basis set out in paragraph 1 of his consultation paper on bereavement support. [76102]

Angela Eagle: No. The proposed bereavement premium in Income Support, and other income-related benefits, will be available only to those men and women who are aged 55 and over at the start of the new arrangements and who are widowed during the subsequent five years. The premium will be payable once their time-limited benefit, Bereavement Allowance, comes to an end.

Family Resources Survey

Mr. Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what evidence is provided by (a) the 1995-96 Family Resources Survey and (b) his Department's administrative data on the housing tenure distribution among pensioners who are (i) receiving income support and (ii) entitled to, but not receiving, income support, and if he will break down his answer for the age groups (1) 60 to 69, (2) 70 to 79 and (3) 80 years or above. [76090]

Mr. Timms: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the table.

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			Percentage
	Age 60-69	Age 70-79	Age 80 or above
Housing tenure
Local authority tenants	50	54	43
Other social tenants	8	10	11
Private renters	6	5	6
Owner occupiers	35	29	38
Other	1	1	2
Total	100	100	100

Notes:

1. Figures are shown as a percentage of the total number of pensioner benefit units receiving income support in each age band.

2. Estimates are rounded to the nearest whole per cent. Rows may not sum to 100% due to rounding.

3. Pensioners are defined as single people or couples where at least one partner is aged over 59 years. Couples are allocated to age bands according to the age of the older partner.

4. Receipt of Income Support is based on respondents' own assessment and may be subject to misreporting.

5. "Local authority tenants" are defined as those households where the landlord was either a local authority/council, a New Town development or Scottish Homes and where the property did not go with the job of anyone in the household. "Other social tenants" are defined as those households where the landlord was either a Housing Association, a co-operative or a charitable trust and where the property did not go with the job of anyone in the household. "Private renters" are defined as those households where the landlord was an employer, friend or relative of a household member, or another private landlord or organisation. "Owner occupiers" are defined as those households that were either owned outright, being bought with the help of a mortgage or loan, or were part rented and part mortgaged.

Source:

Family Resources Survey 1995/96.

Disability Living Allowance

Mrs. May: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many reviews of disability living allowance were undertaken under the Benefit Integrity Project in 1997-98 and the current financial year to date; and how many reviews it is anticipated will be held in 1999-2000 under the new periodic review system. [76840]

Mr. Bayley: The administration of Disability Living Allowance is a matter for Peter Mathison, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Peter Mathison to Mrs. Theresa May, dated 15 March 1999:

The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many reviews of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) were undertaken under the Benefits Integrity Project (BIP) in 1997-98 and the current financial year to date; and how many reviews it is anticipated will be held in 1999-2000 under the new periodic review system.

It might be helpful to clarify what we mean by a review. I assume from your question that you are referring to the total number of cases that have been, and will be, checked under the BIP using the most available year to date figures, and the total number that are likely to be checked under the periodic review of DLA awards that starts in April 1999. I have answered your question on this basis.

The number of DLA cases that were examined and completed by the BIP in the period 1 April 1997 to 31 March 1998 was 72,470. For the period 1 April 1998 to 31 December 1998 (the last available figures), the corresponding figure is 88,117.

A monthly statistical report providing detailed information can be found in the House of Commons library.

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Turning now to the number of cases we anticipate dealing with under the new periodic enquiry system from April, the new process will be continually evaluated, refined and developed, in consultation with disabled people and their representatives. Officials will take stock of the findings after six moths. I estimate that over the first six months work will be started on some 10,000 to 15,000 cases, through a mixture of visit and postal enquiry.

I hope that this is helpful.

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