I confirm that an application for carer's allowance has been received from the above named.
On completion of the necessary investigations relating to all aspects of her claim, a decision will be made and the person concerned will be notified directly of the outcome.
Some 7,698 carer's allowance applications are registered and awaiting a decision at present.
A major service delivery modernisation project is under way to improve the efficiency of administration of the carer's allowance scheme. This involves the development of information technology functions and associated business process re-organisation. The first tranche of new carer's allowance claims began to be processed under the new system in August 2011.
It is anticipated that the new system will introduce significant processing efficiencies and a quicker and more responsive service to the customer. Accordingly, the project is being given high priority and involves a significant level of time and commitment from the relevant staff in the Department. This has had a short-term negative impact on claim processing times which is expected to continue until the completion of the modernisation project in June of this year when all existing carer's allowance claims will be transferred onto the new processing systems. In addition, to dealing with approximately 330 new carer's allowance applications that are received each week, overtime working is being applied to help reduce backlogs that have built up. However, it is expected to be a significant number of months before the backlog is reduced to an acceptable level.
While the new systems and processes will facilitate a significant improvement in overall processing times, it should be noted the intake of carer's allowance claims remains at a high level and that individual claims may continue to take some time to process.
In the meantime, if a person's means are insufficient to meet their needs while awaiting a decision on a claim, they may apply for a means tested supplementary welfare allowance payment from their local community welfare officer.