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Dept of Social Security;Social Security Benefits Agency

Answer

Mr. Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many complaints have been received about the Benefits Agency regarding claims to Disability Living Allowance for each month since May 1997. [155416] Mr. Bayley: The administration of Disability Living Allowance is a matter for Alexis Cleveland, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. She will write to the hon. Member. Letter from Alexis Cleveland to Mr. David Willetts, dated 10 April 2001: The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many complaints have been received about the Benefits Agency regarding claims to Disability Living Allowance for each month since May 1997. Information is not available for the period prior to April 1998. From April 1998, the number of complaints made in respect of Disability Living Allowance by letter, telephone or in person is in the table. _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1998 1999 2000 April 176 505 1,141 May 158 679 1,262 June 258 909 1,569 July 264 972 1,370 August 508 801 1,169 September 455 1,004 912 October 461 807 950 November 563 886 773 December 270 962 530 January 337 886 791 February 419 961 614 March 407 1,284 {1}-- _________________________________________________________________________________________________. {1} Figures for March 2001 are not yet available It should be noted that while the statistics show the number of all types of complaints about the standard of service received, they also include cases in which dissatisfaction has been expressed with the outcome of benefit decisions which must be pursued through the decision making and appeals process. There was a steady increase in the figures throughout the period up to June 2000. This can be attributed to an increase in work on hand before and after the introduction of new decision making and appeals procedures. It is well-documented that changes to Disability Living Allowance procedures introduced in October 1999 led initially to a significant increase in the time taken to process each case. This created a temporary backlog of work, which resulted in an increase in the number of complaints. The backlog was tackled as a priority and has now been cleared with the result that the level of complaints have steadily decreased each month since July 2000. I hope this information is helpful.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

155416; 366 c617-8W

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Complaints Disability Disability living allowance Social security benefits Social Security Benefits Agency

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk