Lamb Questions Minister Over Benefit Delays

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 7th Jul 2003

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk, has today questioned the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions over delays in processing benefit claims at the Pension Service centre in Norwich.

Mr Lamb has warned that elderly people on low incomes may suffer 'endless delays' in having their claims dealt with, due to the serious backlog which has ensued as a result of the Government reorganising the benefits system last year.

"This is a bureaucratic nightmare," said Norman Lamb. "The Government's attempt at reorganisation has resulted in an appalling muddle.

"It is reported that between 6,000 and 8,000 unprocessed applications for the Minimum Income Guarantee alone are waiting to be dealt with at the Norwich centre alone. This is not acceptable. Many constituents have come to me with complaints about slow service. Likewise, I am concerned about the impact the Government's changes have had on Pension Service staff, who now have an impossible job to handle in order to resolve this situation.

"The Government is failing some of the most vulnerable in society. My concern is that following on from the chaos surrounding the launch of the Child Tax Credit, we can have little confidence that the Pension Credit launch later this year will be any better."