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Attendance Allowance

Mr. Burstow: 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 for each quarter over the last three years. [136805]

Mr. Bayley [holding answer 7 November 2000]: The information is not available in the form requested. The following table gives figures, for each quarter of the last three years, for the average number of days taken to process an initial Attendance Allowance (AA) claim (excluding accelerated processing under special rules for terminal illness), and the average number of days taken to review a claim (including existing claims). From 18 October 1999 reconsideration was introduced to replace the review process. All data are subject to rounding to whole days.

Quarter	Initial claims	Reviews(15)	Reconsiderations
April-June 1998	22	39	--
July-September 1998	23	40	--
October-December 1998	24	41	--
January-March 1999	25	43	--
April-June 1999	29	39	--
July-September 1999	30	40	--
October-December 1999	30	(16)41	(17)33
January-March 2000	32	(16)43	(17)55
April-June 2000	36	--	59
July-September 2000	34	--	54

⁽¹⁵⁾ All reviews, including review from new claims

⁽¹⁶⁾ Cases where requests for review received before 18 October 1999

⁽¹⁷⁾ Cases where requests for review received on or after 18 October 1999

New procedures for assessing claims for AA were introduced in the third quarter of 1999 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

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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.

Poverty

Mr. Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many (a) children and (b) adults were living in poverty in each of the last 20 years; and what his estimate is of the number of children who will be living in poverty in each of the next three years. [137734]

Mr. Bayley [holding answer 10 November 2000]: Poverty is a multi-faceted problem. Therefore we do not use a single definition of poverty but instead use a range of indicators to examine the problem. Information relating to the indicators can be found in the second Government "Opportunity for all" report on tackling poverty and social exclusion "One year on: making a difference" (Cm 4865). The report also describes and monitors the impact of policies we have already introduced, and sets out our plans for the future.

Disability Living Allowance

Mr. Donohoe: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what steps the Benefits Agency and the Appeals Service must take following a decision by an independent Disability Living Allowance appeal tribunal to amend benefits before arrears of benefit can be paid. [138518]

Mr. Bayley: Appeals Service procedures are matters for the Chief Executive of The Appeals Service. The administration of Disability Living Allowance is the responsibility of the Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, Alexis Cleveland. Following consultation with the Appeals Service, Alexis Cleveland will write to my hon. Friend.

Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. Brian Donohoe, dated 21 November 2000:

The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to respond to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what steps the Benefits Agency (BA) and The Appeals Service (TAS) must take following a decision by an independent disability living allowance appeal tribunal to amend benefits before arrears of benefit can be paid.

TAS issues a copy of the appeal tribunal's decision to all parties to the proceedings, including the appellant and the BA, within 2 days of the appeal hearing.

Tribunal decision notices (DNs) on Disability Living Allowance (DLA) cases are received from each of TAS operational centres at a central distribution point in Disability Carer Benefits Directorate (DCBD). This was set up in February 2000 to register receipt of DNs and speed up the implementation process. Currently approximately 600 DNs are received each day.

DNs are then sent immediately to the DCBD operational section with responsibility for handling particular DLA cases. The DN is linked with the DLA case papers and a decision-maker (DM) then looks at the DN to ensure that it is legally correct before it is implemented.

Where there are no problems DNs are implemented promptly. Before any payment is made, further checks may be made on correct payment and address details, and any periods spent in hospital or residential accommodation that could affect payability of an award. Such DNs can normally be input on to the DLA computer system and payment made within 2 days. If payment of DLA is to be combined with payment of another benefit, the computer system triggers a notification to the relevant local office for their further action.

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There are occasions when a DM identifies a problem with a DN and cases may be referred back to TAS for specific reasons. These include accidental errors; incomplete decisions where the tribunal has omitted to consider all the relevant issues; and decisions which appear to be wrong in law. In all such cases, the DM requests a copy of the appeal chairman's statement of reasons and record of proceedings.

TAS has set a standard of 15 working days for these to be produced and issued. Based on that information, implementation of those DNs may be suspended pending further appropriate action either by TAS or, in cases of error of law, consideration of an appeal against the tribunal decision to a Social Security Commissioner. Consideration must be given to all cases where an error has been identified and regrettably this will delay implementation of those decisions.

Cases identified for a possible appeal to the Commissioner are first examined by a specialist team within DCBD and then by the Benefits Agency Decision-Making and Appeals team before they can be submitted for appeal. Customers are notified that this action is being taken and that payment of arrears has been suspended. If an appeal is not found to be appropriate, the suspension is lifted, payment is made, and the customer is again notified.

I hope this information is helpful.

Minimum Income Guarantee

Mr. Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many additional pensioner households he expects to be entitled to the Minimum Income Guarantee as a result of the proposed pensioners' credit. [138350]

Mr. Rooker: As a result of the proposals announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on 9 November 2000, Official Report, columns 451-55, we expect 1.1 million additional pensioner households to benefit from the Minimum Income Guarantee in 2003.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how long information is kept on file following an unsuccessful application by a pensioner for Minimum Income Guarantee. [139693]

Mr. Rooker [holding answer 21 November 2000]: Clerical documents are kept for 14 months after the decision has been made. Records maintained on the mainframe computer system are available to view for 12 weeks after the decision.

Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make a statement on the procedures for pensioners accessing the Minimum Income Guarantee with specific reference to (a) the operation of the free phone service, (b) the role of the local Benefits Agency office and (c) the processing of forms. [139692]

Mr. Rooker [holding answer 21 November 2000]: We want pensioners to be able to access services in ways that suit them. Pensioners can access the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) through the network of local Benefits Agency offices by writing, visiting or telephoning their local office.

Alternatively, pensioners can claim via the MIG Claimline telephone number (0800 028 1111).

The local office's role is to help pensioners apply for the MIG.

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Benefit Fraud Inspectorate

Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will set out the pay and conditions of the Chief Executive of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate. [139001]

Mr. Rooker: The Director of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate is subject to the pay and conditions of the Senior Civil Service. His pay falls within the Senior Civil Service pay band 4 with a pay range from £57,367 to £95,625.

Mr. Gareth R. Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what arrangements there are in place to monitor (a) the general performance of the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate and (b) the specific performance of individual inspection teams within the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate. [139002]

Mr. Rooker: The Benefit Fraud Inspectorate (BFI) is part of the Department of Social Security and its Director is accountable to senior officials in the Department and to Ministers. Ministers and senior officials monitor the overall performance of the BFI through regular accountability meetings. Views on the general performance of the BFI have recently been gathered, from those local authorities that have been inspected, through the BFI's own survey and the Local Authority Omnibus Survey published by the Department's Social Research Branch.

The Head of Operations and his two Programme Managers monitor the specific performance of individual inspection teams within BFI. This monitoring encompasses the BFI's own internal inspection quality process which measures and provides assurance on the quality of individual inspections and inspection reports.

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