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Attendance Allowance

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what the average processing time is for attendance allowance for (a) first-time claims and (b) appeals for claims to be reconsidered. [134551]

Mr. Bayley: The administration of Attendance Allowance is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, who will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. David Willets, dated 30 October 2000:

The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average processing time is for Attendance Allowance (AA) for (a) first time claims and (b) appeals for claims to be reconsidered.

For the period April to September 2000 the actual average clearance time for new and repeat claims was 34 days. The clearance time for reconsiderations was 54 days.

New procedures for assessing claims for Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance were introduced last year to improve the accuracy of decisions on entitlement. Customers can now receive clearer explanations of decisions on their benefit entitlement. Initially these changes led to significant increases in the time it took to process each case which, together with a growing caseload, created a temporary backlog of work. This has been tackled as a priority and, as decision-makers have become accustomed to the new procedures, the backlog has now been cleared.

I hope this information is helpful.

Pensioners (Benefit Overpayments)

Mr. Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what guidance he has issued to the Benefits

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Agency about its approach to cases in which pensioners on benefits, unbeknown to them and to the Agency, have been over-paid for 12 months or more. [134380]

Mr. Rooker: The administration of benefits is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. John Bercow, dated 30 October 2000:

The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to respond to your Parliamentary Question asking what guidance he has issued to the Benefits Agency about its approach to cases in which pensioners on benefits unbeknown to them and to the Agency have been over-paid for 12 months or more.

The Overpayments Recovery Guide is an internally produced manual available to staff dealing with overpayments of benefit. It provides general advice to staff on how to proceed once an overpayment has been identified, dealing with issues such as the classification of the overpayment, for example, mistake by the customer, official error, and special age and welfare considerations.

It has always been our policy to recover overpayments as quickly and as effectively as possible, without causing undue financial hardship to our customers.

The decision whether an overpayment is recoverable is normally made by a decision-maker. In cases where an overpayment is caused by misrepresentation or failure to disclose a material fact Section 71 of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 allows the recovery of that overpayment. Recovery is sought whenever it is appropriate to do so. The decision automatically provides a right of appeal on the grounds of whether there has been misrepresentation or failure to disclose and the amount determined. This legislation covers the vast majority of the overpayments we try to recover.

However, in some cases we may seek to recover overpayments that fall outside the scope of Section 71. Typically, repayment may be requested where a person has been paid over and above the amount authorised; for example, where someone has been paid twice for the same period.

I hope this is helpful.

Income Support

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners have been awarded Income Support since 1 May; how many pensioners were awarded Income Support in the same period in 1999; and if he will make a statement. [135667]

Mr. Bayley: Between May and September over 137,800 successful claims to the Minimum Income Guarantee have been received. Over 101,900 successful claims were received for the equivalent period in 1999.

Minimum Income Guarantee

Mr. Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners have applied (a) successfully and (b) unsuccessfully for the Minimum Income Guarantee since the start of the take-up campaign (i) in total and (ii) in each Benefit Agency area. [135653]

Mr. Bayley: The information is in the table. The table excludes those cases which are currently being processed.

Number of successful and unsuccessful Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) claims received in each Benefits Agency (BA) area

Area	Successful	Unsuccessful	Total
East London and Anglia	2,086	1,937	4,023
Chilterns	1,741	1,558	3,299
London South	2,915	2,820	5,735
West Country	2,400	2,261	4,661
Mercia	2,216	1,988	4,204
West Midlands	1,904	1,565	3,469
Wales	1,538	1,761	3,299
North West Coast	1,740	1,637	3,377
Greater Manchester	1,684	1,468	3,152
Yorkshire	2,174	2,039	4,213
Tyne Tees	1,435	1,374	2,809
West of Scotland	1,485	1,349	2,834
East of Scotland	1,428	1,231	2,659
Total	24,746	22,988	47,734

Note:

Figures exclude Northern Ireland

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Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many pensioners, in each region, are entitled to extra financial assistance through the minimum income guarantee, but are not receiving it; and if he will make a statement. [135749]

Mr. Bayley: We estimate that about 500,000 pensioners are missing out on their entitlement within Great Britain. This information is not available on a regional basis.

Free Television Licence Scheme

Mr. Goggins: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement about the funding of the over 75s' free television licence scheme. [136146]

Mr. Rooker: In his pre-budget statement on 9 November 1999, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor announced that, from autumn 2000, every pensioner aged 75 or over will receive their television licence free of charge. The over 75s' free television licence scheme will be introduced from 1 November 2000 and the cost of this concession will be met from public funds, via payments by the Department of Social Security to the BBC.

The Amendment (Cm 4797), dated 3 July 2000, to the Agreement (Cm 3152), dated 25 January 1996, between the predecessor of the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport and the British Broadcasting Corporation was laid before Parliament and approved by way of an affirmative resolution on 6 July. Under the Amendment the Secretary of State for Social Security undertakes to pay the Corporation (out of moneys provided by Parliament) a sum or sums equivalent to the moneys foregone by the Corporation in issuing free television licences together with an additional sum or sums in respect of the administrative costs arising from the issue of such licences.

Parliamentary approval of this expenditure will be sought in a Supplementary Estimate for the Housing benefit subsidies, council tax benefit subsidies and administration, payments into the National Insurance Fund and Social Fund and other grants vote (Class XII, Vote 2). Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £348 million will be met by repayable advances from the Contingencies Fund.

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The advance will be repaid from Class XII, Vote 2 when Parliament has approved the Supplementary Estimate.

Stakeholder Pensions

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the proposed advertising campaign on stakeholder pensions will begin; how much he estimates it will cost; and how long it is planned to last. [134531]

Mr. Rooker: The Department is not planning a specific campaign on Stakeholder Pensions. The Department will continue its pensions education marketing activity from January 2001. The campaign aims to communicate basic impartial information about pensions, and to explain the new wider range of pensions options available, so that people can make informed decisions about their pensions arrangements. The first wave of advertising is planned to run from January to March of next year. It will cost in the region of £4.8 million.

Housing Benefit

Mr. Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list the local authorities which he deems to have administered housing benefit incorrectly. [134512]

Angela Eagle: The standard of performance in local authorities which have been inspected by the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) has been found to be variable. As at 31 October 2000 the BFI has completed 74 inspections of local authorities and the published reports are available in the Library.

Vaccine Damage

Mr. John M. Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he proposes to raise the level of payments under the Vaccine Damage Payments Act 1979; and if he will make a statement. [135447]

Mr. Bayley: On 27 June, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security announced that he intended to increase the Vaccine Damage Payment to £100,000. Regulations were laid shortly after and the new rate is now effective for new claims made on or after 22 July this year. We have no plans to raise the level of payment further.

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