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<p>Waiting times for appeals against decisions made about Personal Independence Payment
(PIP) are published at:</p><p>www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics</p><p>
</p><p>Average waiting times<sup>1</sup> for PIP<sup>2</sup> appeals in Garston and
Halewood<sup>3</sup> between July 2018 to June 2019 (the latest 12 month period for
which data are available) are included in the table below:</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Month</p></td><td><p>Waiting
time (in weeks)<sup>4</sup></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 2018</p></td><td><p>34</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August
2018</p></td><td><p>35</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2018</p></td><td><p>37</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October
2018</p></td><td><p>38</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 2018</p></td><td><p>38</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December
2018</p></td><td><p>39</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 2019</p></td><td><p>37</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February
2019</p></td><td><p>40</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2019</p></td><td><p>36</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April
2019<sup> p</sup></p></td><td><p>37</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2019<sup> p</sup></p></td><td><p>35</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June
2019<sup> p</sup></p></td><td><p>37</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><sup>1.
</sup>Waiting time is interpreted as average clearance time – time taken from appeal
receipt to outcome.</p><p><sup>2. </sup>PIP (New Claim Appeals), which is replacing
Disability Living Allowance was introduced on 8 April 2013, and also includes Disability
Living Allowance Reassessed cases.</p><p><sup>3. </sup>SSCS data are recorded by the
office that dealt with the case, and if the case went to oral hearing, the location
of the tribunal hearing, which is normally the hearing venue nearest to the appellant’s
home address. Cases relating to the Garston and Halewood constituency are attributed
to the Liverpool venue.</p><p><sup>4. </sup>Includes all cases cleared both with and
without a tribunal hearing, in line with the published statistics.</p><p><sup>p. </sup>Provisional
data which are subject to change.</p><p> </p><p>Waiting times are calculated from
receipt of an appeal 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 had 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> </p><p>It is important
that appeals are heard as quickly as possible. 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> </p><p>In addition, HMCTS has 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: www.gov.uk/appeal-benefit-decision/submit-appeal.</p><p>
</p><p>HMCTS is 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>
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