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Dept of Social Security

Answer

Ms Blears: To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what assessment he has made of (a) the cost of benefit payments to individuals with acquired brain injury and (b) the number of people with acquired brain injury who have not returned to work; [147963] (2) what support his Department offers to people with acquired brain injury. [147960] Mr. Bayley: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows. There is a wide range of Social Security benefits available. It is not possible to estimate reliably the expenditure on benefit payments to individuals with acquired brain injury because it is not recorded as a separate category of incapacity for receipt of benefit. However, the latest available information on the number of people in receipt of benefit due to head injury is as follows: As at 1 April 1999 there were 8,300 Industrial Injury Disablement Benefit recipients with a primary diagnosis of fractured skull and facial bones, intracranial injury or crushing injury of the head. As at 31 August 2000 there were 3,900 Incapacity Benefit recipients and 600 Severe Disablement Allowance recipients with a primary diagnosis of fracture of the skull, intracranial injury or other head injury. Notes: 1. All cases of incapacity are coded using the International Classification of Disease, 10th Edition. Acquired brain injury is not recorded as a separate category in this code. Disorders recorded as secondary conditions are not recorded. 2. Figures for Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance are based on a 5 per cent. sample of the benefit computer system and will exclude a small number of clerically held cases. 3. Figures for Industrial Injury Disablement Benefit are based on a 10 per cent. sample of clerical records. 4. Figures for Disability Living Allowance and Income Support are not available by this category of diagnosis.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

362 c470W; 147963;147960

Session

2000-01

Subjects

Disability Costs Injuries Incapacity benefit Social security benefits Brain Industrial injuries disablement benefit Severe disablement allowance

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

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