Friday 8 June 2001
Written Answers to Questions (Continued)

Mr G Kelly asked the Minister for Social Development to detail, by housing district on a monthly basis for the year 2000-01, (a) the number of applications for A1 (I) status and (b) the number of individuals or families on Housing Executive waiting lists with A1 (I) status.

(AQW 3068/00)

Mr Morrow: A1(I) was an identifier used in the previous scheme which was replaced at November 2000. The current scheme records similar cases in the intimidation/civil disturbance category. The table below provides the information on these cases by Housing Executive District Office area.

A monthly breakdown of the figures could only be provided at a disproportionate cost. The figures for the Homeless Advice Centre (HAC) cases are shown separately, because they relate to those who presented as homeless from outside NI, or who have no fixed address.

Mr G Kelly asked the Minister for Social Development to detail, by housing district on a monthly basis for the year 2000-01, (a) the number of applications to the Special Purchase of Evacuated Dwellings Scheme and (b) the number of applications accepted for the Special Purchase of Evacuated Dwellings Scheme.

(AQW 3069/00)

Mr Morrow: The number of applications received per month is set out in Table 1. Table 2 shows details of applications received over the year by District Council area. Of the 176 applications received, 38 did not qualify, and 15 were subsequently withdrawn. No monthly or geographic breakdown of the 123 applications which proceeded, is readily available.

Mr Gibson asked the Minister for Social Development to give his assessment of means testing in respect of pensioners seeking to claim benefits.

(AQW 3076/00)

Mr Morrow: State pension, which remains the foundation of most pensioners’ incomes in retirement, is not means tested.

The social security system has always used means- tested benefits as part of a complementary mixture of provision alongside contributory and universal benefits. Each plays a part in meeting people’s needs.

Pensioners may get additional help under the Minimum Income Guarantee. This is paid through Income Support which is an income-related benefit designed to help people whose income is below a specified level. This ensures that the additional help available is focused effectively on those pensioners who are in most need.

Mr Gibson asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of households that were living in poverty in (a) 1997 and (b) at the latest date for which figures are available in Northern Ireland.

(AQW 3077/00)

Mr Morrow: There is no consensus on the definition of poverty or on how it should be measured. In Great Britain the Family Resources Survey allows an analysis of income inequalities. This survey will be extended to Northern Ireland from April 2002, as existing Northern Ireland sources of information are not adequate to allow comparable analyses.

Social Security data allows an analysis of the number of social security benefit units in Northern Ireland claiming a means-tested benefit:

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister for Social Development to detail (a) the number of appeals regarding benefit decisions in each of the last five years (b) the number of appeals that were resolved in each in each of the last five years (c) the number of appeals currently being considered and (d) what steps are being taken to reduce the time taken to complete the appeals process.

(AQW 3081/00)

Mr Morrow:The number of appeals currently being considered is 5,230.

The Department for Social Development places a high priority on the reduction in the length of time to process an appeal. The Social Security Agency has increased the number of appeal writers and as a result the number of appeals to be written is reducing steadily. The Appeals Service has taken steps to reduce the time taken to complete the appeals process by recruiting additional administrative staff, authorising overtime working, increasing the number of weekly sessions for benefit related appeals and, in liaison with the Office of the President of Appeal Tribunals, cross-training medical members and initiating the planned recruitment of additional legally and medically qualified panel members.

Mr Gibson asked the Minister for Social Development whether he has any plans to change the Housing Benefit system.

(AQW 3102/00)

Mr Morrow: There are no plans to change the Housing Benefit scheme. However, from 2 July 2001 the arrangements for Decision Making and Appeals in respect of Housing Benefit will be brought into line with those applying in other social security benefits. These arrangements will provide for a right of appeal from a decision of the relevant authority to an appeal tribunal, with a further right of appeal, on a point of law, to the Social Security Commissioner, and from there to the higher courts. Under the revised arrangements Review Boards will be abolished from 2 July.

Also from 2 July 2001 the present cash limited Housing Benefit discretionary hardship scheme, will be replaced by a new cash limited Discretionary Housing Payments scheme. These new payments, will not be payments of housing benefit, but will be available at the discretion of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to those tenants whose benefit has been restricted by the rules governing maximum rent and whom the Executive consider are in need of financial assistance, in addition to their benefit, in order to meet housing costs.

Mr Hilditch asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of prosecutions for housing debts per parliamentary constituency, in each of the last five years.

(AQW 3109/00)

Mr Morrow: The information you requested is not available by parliamentary constituency. It is however, available by District Council area and is presented in the table below.

Mrs I Robinson asked the Minister for Social Development, in respect of Disability Living Allowance, to detail (a) the number of claims for this allowance for each constituency in each of the last five years (b) his assessment of why some constituencies have a higher take-up rate than others and (c) what policy is in place to determine the authenticity of each claim.

(AQW 3127/00)

Mr Morrow: The Social Security Agency does not hold information on the number of actual claims to Disability Living Allowance for each constituency, and therefore cannot comment on the take-up rate per constituency.

Each claim to Disability Living Allowance is considered on its own merit. To determine the authenticity of each claim and to ensure that customers receive the correct amount of benefit, supporting evidence is required for the majority of claims before a decision is given. Supporting evidence includes a report from the customer’s doctor, an Agency doctor, consultant or social worker.

Mr Gibson asked the Minister for Social Development to give his assessment on the factors mitigating the take-up of the minimum income guarantee.

(AQW 3128/00)

Mr Morrow: The Social Security Agency has undertaken a range of measures to actively encourage uptake of the Minimum Income Guarantee. These initiatives have resulted in an additional 4,500 Pensioners receiving Minimum Income Guarantee with an average extra payment of £23.00 per week. Work will continue in this area to ensure Pensioners claim and receive all the help they are entitled to.

Mr Gibson asked the Minister for Social Development whether an assessment has been made of the number of pensioners who have an occupational pension.

(AQW 3130/00)

Mr Morrow: The Social Security Agency has carried out no assessment of the number of pensioners who have an occupational pension.

Mr Gibson asked the Minister for Social Development to detail the number of people currently waiting for their Housing Benefit claim to be processed; and to make a statement.

(AQW 3155/00)

Mr Morrow: At the end of May the Housing Executive was processing 1,483 claims from tenants in the public rented sector and 2,106 from the private sector. In addition, amendments to 983 existing public sector claims were being processed, along with 1,346 in the private sector.

The Housing Executive is required by legislation to process all claims for Housing Benefit within 14 days of receiving all necessary information. During 2000/01 this was achieved in 96.4% of claims from tenants in the public rented sector, and 91.3% in the private rented sector. The average number of days taken to assess new claims was 13.4 days for public sector claims, and 23 days for the private sector.

In a case in which the Housing Executive is unable to process a private sector claim within the statutory time limit, and the reason is not the fault of the claimant, the Executive will make a payment on account based on the information available.

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