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1123671

	registered interest
	date	29/04/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many Social Security and Child Support Tribunal appeals have taken longer than 52 weeks for a determination, in each of the last five years.
	tabling member constituency	Easington
	tabling member printed	Grahame Morris
	uin	248645
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 16/05/2019 answer text <p>The information requested is provided in the table below:</p><p>SOCIAL SECURITY &amp; CHILD SUPPORT CLEARANCES 1<br>Period Number of clearances that exceeded 52 weeks from receipt<br>1 April 2013 - 31 March 2014 16,161<br>1 April 2014 - 31 March 2015 12,350<br>1 April 2015 - 31 March 2016 3,100<br>1 April 2016 - 31 March 2017 4,084<br>1 April 2017 - 31 March 2018 7,330<br>1 April 2018 - 31 December 2018 2 13,162</p><p>1. Data include hearings cleared with and without a Tribunal hearing</p><p>2. The latest period for which data are available. Provisional data and subject to further change</p><p>Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data that are available.</p><p> </p><p><br>It is important that appeals are heard as quickly as possible. Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) recognises there are delays in the system and it is in the process of recruiting more judicial office holders in order to increase capacity and help to reduce waiting times for appellants. This includes 250 judges across the First-tier Tribunal, 125 disability qualified members and up to 230 medical members.</p><p>In addition, we have recently launched a new digital service with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals. Information on the new digital service can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision/submit-appeal</p><p>We are also working with the Department for Work and Pensions to understand what could be done to reduce the number of appeals being submitted to the Tribunal, through their focus on improving decision-making and the mandatory reconsideration process.</p><p>These measures will increase the capacity of the Tribunal. As a result, the number of appeals outstanding in the Tribunal is starting to fall as the number of cases heard by the Tribunal outweigh those sent to the Tribunal. If this continues, over time, we expect the time it takes for the Tribunal to hear, and the age of, appeals to reduce.</p><p>The time taken for the Tribunal to hear an appeal is mainly driven by the number of appeals sent to the Tribunal and the capacity of the Tribunal to deal with them. The number of appeals sent to the Tribunal is directly affected by changes in welfare policy.</p><p>The time it takes the Tribunal to hear an appeal is calculated from the time it is sent to the Tribunal to its final disposal. An appeal is not necessarily disposed of at its first hearing. The final disposal decision on the appeal may be reached after an earlier hearing has been adjourned (which may be directed by the judge for a variety of reasons, such as to seek further evidence), or after an earlier hearing date had been postponed (again, for a variety of reasons, often at the request of the appellant). An appeal may also have been decided at an earlier date by the First-tier Tribunal, only for the case to have gone on to the Upper Tribunal, to be returned once again to the First-tier for its final disposal.</p><p>HMCTS is very sensitive to the needs of people who may be affected by waiting times for Tribunal hearings. Tribunal staff and judicial office-holders, are trained accordingly, with HMCTS’s reasonable adjustments policy and practice applied where appropriate. Guidance on the policy is published on GOV.UK. If an expedited hearing is sought, or where the Tribunal identifies a case which might benefit from an expedited hearing, a judge or caseworker will make a decision on the issue, taking all the circumstances of the case into account.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 16/05/2019 16:26:11 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	3973 label Biography information for Grahame Morris

1093498

	registered interest
	date	22/03/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the average length of time between an person appealing a decision on (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments to that person receiving an outcome in the latest period for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	235810
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2019 answer text <p>(1) Information about waiting times for appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support), including (a) Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and (b) Personal Independence Payment (PIP), is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.</p><p> </p><p>(2) HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service administers appeals from appellants living in England, Scotland, and Wales (Great Britain) and not the United Kingdom. The Northern Ireland Courts &amp; Tribunals Service administers appeals from appellants living in Northern Ireland. The data requested at 2(a) and (b) for appellants in Great Britain are not held centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Latest figures (between April 2014 – September 2018) indicate that 3.9m ESA (post WCA) decisions have been made. Of these, 8% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned. For PIP, the latest figures (to December 2018) indicate that since it was introduced, 3.9 million decisions have been made. Of these 10% have been appealed and 5% have been overturned at tribunals.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 235811 question first answered 28/03/2019 16:45:06 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1093499

	registered interest
	date	22/03/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of people that have waited 12 months or more from the time they appealed a decision on (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments to receiving an outcome in country of the UK in the latest period for which figures are available.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	235811
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/03/2019 answer text <p>(1) Information about waiting times for appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support), including (a) Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and (b) Personal Independence Payment (PIP), is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.</p><p> </p><p>(2) HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service administers appeals from appellants living in England, Scotland, and Wales (Great Britain) and not the United Kingdom. The Northern Ireland Courts &amp; Tribunals Service administers appeals from appellants living in Northern Ireland. The data requested at 2(a) and (b) for appellants in Great Britain are not held centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Latest figures (between April 2014 – September 2018) indicate that 3.9m ESA (post WCA) decisions have been made. Of these, 8% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned. For PIP, the latest figures (to December 2018) indicate that since it was introduced, 3.9 million decisions have been made. Of these 10% have been appealed and 5% have been overturned at tribunals.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer grouped question UIN 235810 question first answered 28/03/2019 16:45:06 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1093497

	registered interest
	date	22/03/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of people that have waited 12 months or more from the time they appealed a decision on (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments to receiving an outcome; and what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for appeal outcomes.
	tabling member constituency	High Peak
	tabling member printed	Ruth George
	uin	235809
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2019 answer text <p>The data requested at a) and b) are not available centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Information about volumes and waiting times generally for appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support), including Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP), is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.</p><p> </p><p>To improve clearance times, additional fee-paid judicial office holders have been recruited: 250 judges across the First-tier Tribunal, 125 disability qualified members and up to 230 medical members. In addition, more PIP appeals are being listed per session and case-management “triage” sessions are being conducted, in order to reduce the time taken for appeals to reach final determination. These measures will increase the capacity of the Tribunal, with the aim of reducing waiting times for appellants.</p><p> </p><p>HM Courts &amp; Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is also developing a new digital system with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Information on the new digital service can be found at www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision.</p><p> </p><p>Finally, HMCTS is working with the Department for Work and Pensions to understand what could be done to reduce the number of appeals being submitted to the Tribunal, through their focus on improving decision-making and the mandatory reconsideration process.</p><p> </p><p>Latest figures (between April 2014 – September 2018) indicate that 3.9m ESA (post WCA) decisions have been made. Of these, 8% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned. For PIP, the latest figures (to December 2018) indicate that since it was introduced, 3.9 million decisions have been made. Of these 10% have been appealed and 5% have been overturned at Tribunals.</p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 27/03/2019 17:26:59 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	4662 label Biography information for Ruth George

1092172

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will set out the average time (a) taken to process mandatory reconsiderations and (b) between a mandatory reconsideration decision and a tribunal, in each of the last three years for which data are available.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	234691
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2019 answer text <p>Information on median clearance times for PIP Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) is provided in the table below.</p><p /><p><strong>Median Clearance Times, in Calendar Days, for PIP MRs, Normal Rules, Great Britain:</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year of MR Clearance</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Median Calendar Days for MR to be Cleared</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>33</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>29</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19 <em>(April 18 – January19)</em></p></td><td><p>37</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>This data on PIP MR clearance times is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.</p><p> </p><p>The Department publishes quarterly statistics on “ESA: outcomes of Work Capability Assessments including mandatory reconsiderations and appeals” which include figures on median MR clearance times, available at Table 16 here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/esa-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessments-including-mandatory-reconsiderations-and-appeals-march-2019" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/esa-outcomes-of-work-capability-assessments-including-mandatory-reconsiderations-and-appeals-march-2019</a></p><p> </p><p>To provide information on MR clearance times across all other DWP administered benefits would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p /><p>There are a number of reasons for differences in clearance times between benefits. This includes the PIP clearance times being based on the clearance times from the point of registration to the date the MR was cleared. This is different to the MR clearance times for ESA which are based on the date when the Benefit Centre has decided that the MR received is a valid MR, having considered whether they can initially change the decision in the light of any new information to the date when the decision maker at the Dispute Resolution Team (DRT) has cleared and logged the final decision.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Information on the median time between a PIP MR decision and an Appeal being lodged is provided in the table below.</p><p /><p><strong>Median Times, in Calendar Days, between a PIP MR decision and an Appeal being lodged in Great Britain:</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Year of Appeal lodgement</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Median Calendar Days between an MR Decision and an Appeal being lodged</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016/17</p></td><td><p>26</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017/18</p></td><td><p>28</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018/19 <em>(April – Dec18) </em></p></td><td><p>28</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>This data is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.</p><p> </p><p>To provide information on the average time between an MR decision being made and appeal being lodged across all other DWP administered benefits would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>The Ministry of Justice publish statistics on the average (mean) age of a case at disposal for different benefit types. These in Tables SSCS.3 of the Main Tables, available here:</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics#tribunal-statistics-quarterly" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics#tribunal-statistics-quarterly</a></p><p> </p><p>These statistics represent the average number of weeks from receipt in Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to the final outcome within the period. It will include cases cleared at hearing and cases cleared without a hearing which include strike outs, superseded and withdrawals prior to a hearing. An appeal may not necessarily be cleared at its first hearing.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 25/03/2019 16:20:03 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1092179

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department operates a limit on the time (a) taken for mandatory reconsiderations and (b) between the conclusion of a mandatory reconsideration and the opening of a tribunal.
	tabling member constituency	Birkenhead
	tabling member printed	Frank Field
	uin	234693
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 25/03/2019 answer text <p>There is no prescribed time limit for clearing Mandatory Reconsiderations; the Department’s focus is on making a decision as soon as we are able to. Timings can vary depending on a number of reasons including engagement with claimants and the availability of evidence.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants have one month to appeal their Mandatory Reconsideration decision. If an appeal is made the Secretary of State must provide her appeal response to the Tribunals Service within 28 days. The appeal will then be listed for hearing by the Tribunals Service.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 25/03/2019 15:19:54 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1086660

	registered interest
	date	11/03/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to to reduce the number of claimants' successful claims that go through the tribunal appeal process.
	tabling member constituency	Preston
	tabling member printed	Sir Mark Hendrick
	uin	230644
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 18/03/2019 answer text <p>Our intention is to work with stakeholders to review the mandatory reconsideration process, including exploring what might help us to gather any further evidence earlier in the process so that we can revise decisions before they reach tribunal, where appropriate. It is a complex area and we want to get it right, so our first priority will be to listen so that we can identify what changes might have the greatest impact.</p><p> </p><p>At the tribunals themselves, we know the claimant’s oral evidence is often decisive with new written evidence also having an impact. In order to further understand this, we have recruited 150 Presenting Officers, for ESA and PIP appeals, who, aside from helping tribunals reach the right decision, are feeding back their observations to decision makers and assessment providers. These valuable insights will help inform future decision making.</p> answering member constituency North Swindon answering member printed Justin Tomlinson question first answered 18/03/2019 16:55:44 answering member 4105 label Biography information for Justin Tomlinson
	tabling member	473 label Biography information for Sir Mark Hendrick

1061307

	registered interest
	date	14/02/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of (a) personal independence payments and (b) employment and support allowance claimants have been contacted by her Department with an explanation of what information is required to progress their case for mandatory reconsideration.
	tabling member constituency	Lanark and Hamilton East
	tabling member printed	Angela Crawley
	uin	221845
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/02/2019 answer text <p>This information could only be provided at disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Information for claimants on how to challenge a decision made by the Department is available on GOV.UK.</p><p> </p><p>Where claimants make their Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) application by phone we will gather information on why they think the decision is wrong and ask if they have any further evidence they wish to submit.</p><p> </p><p>If a claimant has used the MR form available on GOV.UK, then they will be aware that they should submit any additional evidence with the form. If they write a letter, the Decision Maker will determine whether they need any additional evidence and request it accordingly.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton grouped question UIN 221843 question first answered 21/02/2019 15:46:23 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	4469 label Biography information for Angela Crawley

1061312

	registered interest
	date	14/02/2019
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph four of the letter from the Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work to the hon. Member for Birkenhead, dated 25 July 2018, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of sharing the feedback provided by her Department's Presenting Officers into why her Department's decisions on personal independence payments or employment support allowance have been overturned at appeal.
	tabling member constituency	Lanark and Hamilton East
	tabling member printed	Angela Crawley
	uin	221847
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/02/2019 answer text <p>Presenting Officers represent the Secretary of State at tribunals and support them in making the right decision. The feedback they provide from some Personal Independence Payment and Employment and Support Allowance tribunal hearings for the Department’s decision makers and the Health Care Assessment Providers, is an important element of the improvement work being done to increase the overall quality of the decisions made. The Department continues to monitor and review how the feedback is collected and shared.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Truro and Falmouth answering member printed Sarah Newton question first answered 21/02/2019 15:30:47 answering member 4071 label Biography information for Sarah Newton
	tabling member	4469 label Biography information for Angela Crawley

1061209

	registered interest
	date	14/02/2019
	answering body	Ministry of Justice
	answering dept id	54
	answering dept short name	Justice
	answering dept sort name	Justice
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Appeals
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for benefit tribunals.
	tabling member constituency	North Durham
	tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
	uin	221635
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/02/2019 answer text <p>It is important that appeals are heard as quickly as possible. The Ministry of Justice recognises that there are delays in the system and is in the process of recruiting more judicial office holders in order to increase capacity and help to reduce waiting times for appellants. In the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction, 225 new medical members have already been appointed and 119 disability-qualified members have recently been recruited. The SSCS jurisdiction will also benefit from the fact that 250 fee-paid judges and 100 salaried judges are being recruited across tribunals more widely. In addition, we have recently launched a new digital service with a view to enabling speedier processing of appeals and provide a better service for all parties to the proceedings. Information on the new digital service can be found at:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision/submit-appeal" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision/submit-appeal</a></p> answering member constituency South East Cambridgeshire answering member printed Lucy Frazer question first answered 19/02/2019 13:22:44 answering member 4517 label Biography information for Lucy Frazer
	tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones