Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children under the age of 16 had a claim rejected for disability living allowance in each of the last three years.

Entitlements to Child DLA awards are not determined by specific disabilities or diagnosis; instead entitlement is determined by the effects which a disability or long term health condition has on a person’s life. These are all factors to be taken into consideration when looking at the number of Child DLA new claim rejections.

The Department for Work and Pensions has specially trained case managers who examine comprehensive claimant forms and supporting evidence provided to decide the extent to which the condition affects the mobility and care needs of the claimant (this is what the assessment is based on). Case managers have access to a comprehensive medical guidance and, where consent is provided, can directly contact named professionals in the claim form to obtain additional information required to make an accurate decision.

Applicants who believe they have not received the correct level of DLA award(s) can seek for a mandatory reconsideration, where their claim will be looked at again.

Please see the table below which shows the total number of children under the age of 16, who had a claim rejected and awarded for Disability Living Allowance in each of the last three years.

Source:

Disability Living Allowance Computer System (DLACS)

Notes:

Data taken from MUs 26, 31, 81 and 84

New Claims - includes Normal Rules and Special Rules

Please note that the data supplied are derived from unpublished management information which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.