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10
WQ.354/2019
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BY DEPUTY R.J. WARD OF ST. HELIER
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 10th SEPTEMBER 2019
Question
Will the Minister state –
- the mean average time taken to process notifications from Income Support claimants of changes to their earned income that may affect their Income Support payment levels;
- the range of the time taken to process notifications from Income Support claimants of changes to their earned income that may affect their Income Support payment levels; and
- how many people in receipt of Income Support are currently paying back overpayments arising from changes to their earned income?
Answer
Income Support claims are administered by the Customer and Local Services Department. The Department processes many different types of change of circumstances that affect income support households. Earned income is just one type of change and the current departmental systems do not have the functionality to drill into the requested level of detail set out in the question.
However, in relation to processing notifications the department has focused on improving accessibility by providing claimants a number of ways to inform the department of any change in circumstances that may affect their Income Support award.
Customers are able to visit the department, email the information, send a letter or complete an online form.
When a claimant visits the department with all the necessary information the change will be actioned immediately with the customer present. A new award letter will be issued to the claimant along with a detailed explanation of the change in award.
Processing time will depend on how a claimant provides the relevant information and a delay can occur if the department does not receive the right information from a claimant.