Written question asked by Steve Webb (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 17 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 March 2010. It was answered by Jonathan Shaw (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 March 2010 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Social Security Benefits: Disabled

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of claims for incapacity benefit involved a request for medical information using an IB113 form between October 2007 and October 2008.

Answer

The available information is in the table.

Total number of incapacity benefit referrals received by Atos Healthcare and the total number where an IB113 form was requested, October 2007 to October 2008.
Month	Incapacity benefit referrals	GP report requested	Percentage of referrals where a GP report was requested
October 2007	157,450	19,731	13
November 2007	172,627	23,017	13
December 2007	93,527	12,643	14
January 2008	117,143	16,659	14
February 2008	106,102	13,406	13
March 2008	90,202	11,387	13
April 2008	107,539	14,363	13
May 2008	94,609	10,986	12
June 2008	102,460	11,990	12
July 2008	104,015	12,347	12
August 2008	84,417	10,244	12
September 2008	102,069	12,647	12
October 2008	107,211	14,588	14
Total	1,439,371	184,008	13
Source:
Atos Healthcare Management Information published to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Secondary information