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22 Mar 2006 : Column 405W—continued

Unitary Authorities

Keith Vaz: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what studies his Department has evaluated on the performance of unitary authorities. [59498]

Mr. Woolas: None. However the Comprehensive Performance Assessment and Best Value Performance Indicator performance data prepared by the Audit Commission show such information by type of local authority.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Carer's Allowance

Mrs. Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of (a) men and (b) women in Bridgend constituency who were in receipt of carer's allowance in each of the last five years. [59980]

Mrs. McGuire: The administration of carers allowance is a matter for the chief executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.

Letter from Terry Moran, dated 22 March 2006:


 
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Number of carers allowance claimants in the parliamentary constituency of Bridgend, as at August(11) of each year from 2001 to 2005 by gender

Thousands
Gender of claimant
TotalFemaleMale
20050.80.60.2
20040.80.60.2
20030.70.60.2
20020.70.50.2
20010.70.50.2


(11) 2001 and 2002 figures are as at September. 2003, 2004 and 2005 figures are as at August.
Notes:
1. Only cases in payment are shown (those with underlying entitlement but not actually receiving payment have been excluded).
2. Parliamentary constituencies have been allocated using the ONS postcode directory.
Definitions and conventions:
-" Nil or Negligible; ." Not applicable; Caseload figures are rounded to the nearest hundred and expressed in thousands. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study for totals and 100 percent samples for detail.




Departmental Information

Mr. Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to improve the (a) quality of management information and (b) appraisal of effectiveness within his Department. [49514]

Mrs. McGuire: Improvements to the quality, timeliness and coverage of management information are being made on the back of the introduction of new IT systems under the department's modernisation programme and by a corporate management information service that was introduced in 2003. The Department's effectiveness is assessed in the Departmental Report and Autumn Performance Report, through which it publishes its progress against public service agreement targets. In making these assessments, the Department takes account of expert advice on best practice in measurement and data quality. The Autumn Performance Report published on 15 December 2005 contains the most recent update on delivery of these targets; copies are available in the Library.

Disability Living Allowance

Mr. Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many hours (a) initial training and (b) ongoing training are given to staff who work on disability living allowance fraud cases. [55296]

Mrs. McGuire: The administration of Disability Living Allowance is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
 
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Letter from Terry Moran, dated 22 March 2006:

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he was first informed of errors within disability living allowance DLA(A) forms; what steps he has taken to make the public aware of those errors; when he expects to rectify the errors; and if he will make a statement. [59493]

Mrs. McGuire: The administration of disability living allowance and attendance allowance is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Disability and Carers Service, Mr. Terry Moran. He will write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Terry Moran, dated 22 March 2006:

Incapacity Benefit

Mr. Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what percentage of new incapacity benefit claims were referred for medical review in the most recent year for which figures are available. [51984]

Mrs. McGuire: Claims to incapacity benefit are initially accepted on the basis of medical evidence but are all subject to medical review to find out whether the
 
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person is still incapable of work. Most cases will require a medical examination, but where a person's condition is severe, incapacity may be accepted on the basis of medical or other evidence without the need for an examination.

Information on the number of examinations carried out on new incapacity benefit claims is not available as it is not possible to split initial examinations from the total examination figure which includes initial and subsequent examinations.

Dr. Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what research has been (a) undertaken and (b) commissioned by his Department on the mortality rates of individuals claiming incapacity benefit; and if he will make a statement. [53901]

Mrs. McGuire: The Department has not undertaken or commissioned any such research.

Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of new incapacity benefit claimants in 2005 aged (a) over 50 years and (b) under 50 years had previously been receiving (i) statutory sick pay and (ii) jobseeker's allowance. [58686]

Mrs. McGuire: The most recent available information is in the following tables.
Incapacity benefit (IB) commencements transferred from statutory sick pay in the period 1 June 2002 to 31 May 2003

Aged under 50Percentage of
all IB commencements (under 50)
Aged 50 and overPercentage of
all IB commencements (50 and over)
57,1001357,90027




Note:
Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate, 1 per cent. Sample.





Incapacity benefit (IB) commencements by age and whether person had previously claimed jobseeker's allowance (JSA) within 90 days of IB commencement; first three quarters of 2005


Commencements previously claiming JSA
Proportion of all IB commencements (of age group) (percentage)
Under 50 years of age
February 200522,40021
May 200527,50026
August 200527,40030
50 years of age and over
February 20055,60012
May 20057,00014
August 20055,40015




Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
2. Figures for the latest quarter do not include any late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters. Earlier quarters have been updated to include late notified commencements. For this reason the percentage of all IB commencements may be misleading when compared to earlier quarters.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. Samples.





 
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Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of incapacity benefit claimants reaching the first anniversary of their claim aged (a) over 50 years and (b) under 50 years left the benefit in the next year in each of the last five years. [58689]

Mrs. McGuire: The available information is in the following table.
Proportion of incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) terminations where the claim ended between the first and second year; by age at termination, as a proportion of all terminations

Percentage
Aged
AugustUp to 5050 and over
20016.13.8
20025.84.0
20036.42.9
20046.23.5
20056.33.6




Notes:
1. Figures include all incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance claims, including IB credits only case).
2. Figures for the latest quarter do not include any late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters. For illustration purposes, total IB only terminations for May 2004 increased by 33 per cent. in the year following their initial release.
3. Percentages are calculated using the total terminations in that quarter as a denominator.
Source:
Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples.




Mr. Gerrard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many new claimants for incapacity benefit were aged (a) over 50 years and (b) under 50 years in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2005. [58690]

Mrs. McGuire: The information is in the following table.
Incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance (SDA) commencements; by age group

Aged
PeriodAll agesUnder 5050 and over
1 September 1996 to 31 August 1997997,400687,100310,400
1 September 2004 to 31 August 2005610,200425,800184,400




Notes:
1. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 100. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
2. Figures for the latest year do not include some late notifications and are subject to major changes in future quarters. For illustration purposes, total commencements for the quarter ending May 2004 increased by 18 per cent. in the year following their initial release.
3. New commencements to SDA ceased in April 2001. Some commencements still appear after this date due to the case being re-built.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples.




John Cummings: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many (a) men and (b) women in receipt of incapacity benefit owing to mental health conditions in the Easington constituency are aged (i) 20 to 29, (ii) 30 to 40, (iii) 41 to 49 and (iv) 50 to 60 years. [59040]

Mrs. McGuire: The available information is in the table.
 
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Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants in the Easington parliamentary constituency with a primary diagnosis in the 'Mental and Behavioural Disorders' category; August 2005.

Number
Men
All ages1,800
Under 20
20 to 29400
30 to 40400
41 to 49400
50 to 60400
61 to 65100
Over 65
Women
All ages1,700
Under 20
20 to 29300
30 to 40400
41 to 49400
50 to 60500
61 to 65
Over 65




Notes:
1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
2. '—' means nil or negligible.
3. 'Claimant' figures include all incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance claims, including IB credits only cases.
4. Diagnoses are taken from the International Classification of Diseases (ICD10).
Source:
DWP Information Directorate, Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, 100 per cent. data.




Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people claimed incapacity benefits for (a) mental health reasons and (b) musculo-skeletal disorders in each year from 1979–80 to 2005–06; and if he will make a statement. [59345]

Mrs. McGuire: The information is not available in the format requested. Incapacity Benefit was introduced in April 1995; information is not available broken down by diagnoses for predecessor benefits. The available information is in the table.
Incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants with a primary diagnosis in the Mental and Behavioural Disorders" and Diseases of the Musculoskeletal system and Connective Tissue" groups of diagnoses; each August from 1995 to 2005



As at August:

Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Diseases of the Musculoskeletal system and Connective Tissue
1995628,800645,800
1996688,400656,200
1997754,500657,500
1998797,300629,700
1999840,100605,900
2000889,900594,300
2001951,600592,000
2002998,700575,500
20031,040,400561,000
20041,078,000542,600
20051,089,100516,600




Notes:
1. Figures for the years 1995 to 1998 have been produced using 5 per cent. data and have been rated up in accordance with the Great Britain WPLS 100 per cent. incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance totals.
2. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred.
3. 'Claimant' figures include all incapacity benefit (IB) and severe disablement allowance claims, including IB credits only cases.
Source:
DWP Information Directorate, 5 per cent. samples from 1995 to 1998 and Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, 100 per cent. data thereafter.





 
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Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of those claimants of incapacity benefit who are primarily affected by a mental health problem for which they are receiving treatment. [59854]

Mrs. McGuire: As at August 2005, there were 1,089,100 incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance claimants in Great Britain whose primary diagnosis was within the 'Mental and Behavioural Disorders' group of diagnoses; this represents 39 per cent. of the case load.

The Department does not have records of the medical treatment benefit claimants receive.


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