AQW 13172/22-27


Ms Kellie Armstrong
Alliance Party
Strangford


Tabled Date: 10/06/2024
Answered On Date: 01/07/2024
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities to detail (i) the number of people that have applied to the Healthcare Travel Cost Scheme in each of the last five years, broken down by health and Social Care Trust; and (ii) how many of those applicants were approved as eligible for the scheme.


Answer:
My department administers the Health Service Low Income Scheme (LIS) on behalf of the Department of Health (DoH). The role of the Department for Communities (DfC) is to assess claims, issue certificates setting out entitlement, and dealing with all related matters.
People apply to the scheme rather than an element of the scheme such as travel costs or dental charges.
The tables included below provide details of the claims received and processed by DfC business area. It is not possible to provide a further breakdown by Health and Social Care Trust, or the type of support the claimant was seeking help with.
Universal Credit
Year
Claims Received
Claims Allowed
19/20
9,000
8,114
20/21
8,814
6,067
21/22
15,998
14,100
22/23
20,067
17,666
23/24
21,976
21,491
Benefit Processing Centres (Legacy Benefits)
Year
Claims Received and Processed
Claims Allowed*
19/20
8,196
Data not available
20/21
4,315
Data not available
21/22
4,682
Data not available
22/23
4,807
Data not available
23/24
4,936
4,097
*Data on claims allowed within this business area is only available for 2023/24
Year
Claims Received and Processed
Claims Allowed
19/20
927
915
20/21
890
838
21/22
1064
1063
22/23
887
876
23/24
867
860
Pension Services