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Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Appeals
Monday 9th September 2019

Asked by: Edward Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of people who appealed benefits decisions were successful in their appeal in the last 12 months.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Information about the outcomes of appeals in the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics

Decisions on benefit, typically on a person’s entitlement to benefit, or its rate of payment, can be overturned on appeal for a variety of reasons. For instance, further evidence, including oral testimony, may be provided at the hearing. HM Courts & Tribunals Service cannot comment on decisions made by the independent tribunal judiciary.

Latest figures (to March 2019) indicate that since Personal Independence Payment was introduced, 4.1 million decisions have been made, and of these, 10% have been appealed and 5% have been overturned at Tribunals.

Between April 2014 and December 2018, 4.1 million Employment and Support Allowance (post Work Capability Assessment) decisions have been made. Of these, 8% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Appeals
Monday 9th September 2019

Asked by: Edward Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of benefits appeals resulted in a decision being overturned in each Government region in the last 12 months.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

Information about the outcomes of appeals in the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics

Decisions on benefit, typically on a person’s entitlement to benefit, or its rate of payment, can be overturned on appeal for a variety of reasons. For instance, further evidence, including oral testimony, may be provided at the hearing. HM Courts & Tribunals Service cannot comment on decisions made by the independent tribunal judiciary.

Latest figures (to March 2019) indicate that since Personal Independence Payment was introduced, 4.1 million decisions have been made, and of these, 10% have been appealed and 5% have been overturned at Tribunals.

Between April 2014 and December 2018, 4.1 million Employment and Support Allowance (post Work Capability Assessment) decisions have been made. Of these, 8% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Appeals
Thursday 5th September 2019

Asked by: Edward Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of benefits decisions in Doncaster have been appealed in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

Information on appeal outcomes in relation to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessments by several geographical areas is available on Stat-Xplore.

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html

Information on the percentage of initial Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decisions that have been appealed, by region and for Great Britain, is shown in the table below.

Table: Initial PIP decisions and appeals lodged by region, initial decisions in 2018-19

Region

Appeals lodged

Initial decisions

% of initial decisions appealed

East Midlands

3,190

54,280

6%

East of England

3,460

61,030

6%

London

5,920

87,470

7%

North East

3,220

48,920

7%

North West

7,000

109,170

6%

Scotland

5,880

82,980

7%

South East

4,840

80,430

6%

South West

3,760

63,150

6%

Wales

2,820

47,490

6%

West Midlands

4,560

77,680

6%

Yorkshire and The Humber

4,740

72,050

7%

Great Britain

49,380

784,690

6%

For Doncaster Local Authority, 4,790 initial PIP decisions were made in 2018-19, of which 5% have been appealed.

Notes

  • Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
  • Percentages have been rounded to the nearest percent.
  • Components may not sum to totals due to rounding.
  • Appeals data taken from the DWP PIP computer system’s management information. Therefore this appeal data may differ from that held by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service for various reasons such as delays in data recording and other methodological differences in collating and preparing statistics.
  • Appeals data up to March 2019. Claimants who have received benefit decisions more recently may not yet have had time to complete the claimant journey and progress to appeal.
  • The Local Authority and Government Office Region geography relates to the origin of the claim (i.e. derived from claimant’s postcode) rather than the location of where the tribunal was held.

To provide the information requested across all other DWP administered benefits would incur disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Appeals
Thursday 5th September 2019

Asked by: Edward Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of benefits decisions have been appealed in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

Information on appeal outcomes in relation to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessments by several geographical areas is available on Stat-Xplore.

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html

Information on the percentage of initial Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decisions that have been appealed, by region and for Great Britain, is shown in the table below.

Table: Initial PIP decisions and appeals lodged by region, initial decisions in 2018-19

Region

Appeals lodged

Initial decisions

% of initial decisions appealed

East Midlands

3,190

54,280

6%

East of England

3,460

61,030

6%

London

5,920

87,470

7%

North East

3,220

48,920

7%

North West

7,000

109,170

6%

Scotland

5,880

82,980

7%

South East

4,840

80,430

6%

South West

3,760

63,150

6%

Wales

2,820

47,490

6%

West Midlands

4,560

77,680

6%

Yorkshire and The Humber

4,740

72,050

7%

Great Britain

49,380

784,690

6%

For Doncaster Local Authority, 4,790 initial PIP decisions were made in 2018-19, of which 5% have been appealed.

Notes

  • Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
  • Percentages have been rounded to the nearest percent.
  • Components may not sum to totals due to rounding.
  • Appeals data taken from the DWP PIP computer system’s management information. Therefore this appeal data may differ from that held by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service for various reasons such as delays in data recording and other methodological differences in collating and preparing statistics.
  • Appeals data up to March 2019. Claimants who have received benefit decisions more recently may not yet have had time to complete the claimant journey and progress to appeal.
  • The Local Authority and Government Office Region geography relates to the origin of the claim (i.e. derived from claimant’s postcode) rather than the location of where the tribunal was held.

To provide the information requested across all other DWP administered benefits would incur disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Social Security Benefits: Appeals
Thursday 5th September 2019

Asked by: Edward Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of benefits decisions have been appealed in each Government region in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Answered by Justin Tomlinson

Information on appeal outcomes in relation to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessments by several geographical areas is available on Stat-Xplore.

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here:

https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html

Information on the percentage of initial Personal Independence Payment (PIP) decisions that have been appealed, by region and for Great Britain, is shown in the table below.

Table: Initial PIP decisions and appeals lodged by region, initial decisions in 2018-19

Region

Appeals lodged

Initial decisions

% of initial decisions appealed

East Midlands

3,190

54,280

6%

East of England

3,460

61,030

6%

London

5,920

87,470

7%

North East

3,220

48,920

7%

North West

7,000

109,170

6%

Scotland

5,880

82,980

7%

South East

4,840

80,430

6%

South West

3,760

63,150

6%

Wales

2,820

47,490

6%

West Midlands

4,560

77,680

6%

Yorkshire and The Humber

4,740

72,050

7%

Great Britain

49,380

784,690

6%

For Doncaster Local Authority, 4,790 initial PIP decisions were made in 2018-19, of which 5% have been appealed.

Notes

  • Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.
  • Percentages have been rounded to the nearest percent.
  • Components may not sum to totals due to rounding.
  • Appeals data taken from the DWP PIP computer system’s management information. Therefore this appeal data may differ from that held by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service for various reasons such as delays in data recording and other methodological differences in collating and preparing statistics.
  • Appeals data up to March 2019. Claimants who have received benefit decisions more recently may not yet have had time to complete the claimant journey and progress to appeal.
  • The Local Authority and Government Office Region geography relates to the origin of the claim (i.e. derived from claimant’s postcode) rather than the location of where the tribunal was held.

To provide the information requested across all other DWP administered benefits would incur disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Deportation: Human Trafficking
Tuesday 16th July 2019

Asked by: Edward Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what support his Department provides to young people that were victims of trafficking after they have been returned to their country of origin.

Answered by Caroline Nokes

All confirmed victims of modern slavery who have no right to reside in the UK, or who are seeking or have sought asylum, are entitled to use the Voluntary Return Service funded by the Home Office. Individuals will receive a tailored package of support, which can include flights, help with travel documents, medical assistance and financial and reintegration support.

Arrangements for children to be returned to their country of origin, where this is in the best interests of the child, can be made by local authorities who have the legal responsibility for those children. A child’s wishes (for example to be reunited with family) as well as any safeguarding or trafficking risks will be considered in the round as part of the best interest’s decision.

The Home Office is also working with other governments and NGOs to make sure that when victims do decide to return home, they continue to access the support they need to prevent re-trafficking. For example, The Salvation Army has signed an MoU with La Strada Foundation in Poland to facilitate cooperation to support the safe return of Polish victims and their dependents.

The Home Office is also funding support and reintegration assistance to victims of trafficking in Nigeria and Vietnam, which includes support for those returning from the UK, and a similar programme is under development in Albania.


Written Question
Pension Credit: Doncaster North
Tuesday 16th July 2019

Asked by: Edward Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people in Doncaster North constituency that are eligible to claim pension credit do not claim that benefit.

Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The information requested on the number of people who are eligible to claim Pension Credit but do not claim the benefit is only available at national level.

Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits at Great Britain level, including pension credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up in 2016 to 2017’ publication.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017


Written Question
Universities: Admissions
Monday 15th July 2019

Asked by: Edward Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of making additional indicators of pupils’ disadvantage and under-representation in higher education accessible to universities in order to support their widening participation and access work.

Answered by Chris Skidmore

Widening access and participation in higher education (HE) is a priority for the government. This means that everyone with the capability to succeed in HE should have the opportunity to participate, regardless of their background.

The government has made progress in ensuring universities are open to all, with record rates of disadvantaged 18 year olds in HE. However, we are aware that more needs to be done to support access and participation in HE, so it is vital that we continue to build on this progress.

HE providers need to use good quality and meaningful data to identify disadvantage and under-representation in order to effectively address disparities in access and participation in HE.

We encourage institutions to use a range of measures to identify disadvantage and under-representation, including individual-level indicators, area data (such as Participation of Local Areas data, Index of Multiple Deprivation or ACORN), school data, intersectional data such as the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service's (UCAS) Multiple Equality Measure and participation in outreach activities. The department is continuing to work with the Office for Students, UCAS and sector representatives to further explore how we can support universities to improve and enhance access to data.


Written Question
Universities: Admissions
Monday 15th July 2019

Asked by: Edward Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of how the sharing with universities of additional indicators of applicants’ disadvantage and under-representation in higher education could enable universities to make further progress on increasing access and participation among disadvantaged applicants.

Answered by Chris Skidmore

Widening access and participation in higher education (HE) is a priority for the government. This means that everyone with the capability to succeed in HE should have the opportunity to participate, regardless of their background.

The government has made progress in ensuring universities are open to all, with record rates of disadvantaged 18 year olds in HE. However, we are aware that more needs to be done to support access and participation in HE, so it is vital that we continue to build on this progress.

HE providers need to use good quality and meaningful data to identify disadvantage and under-representation in order to effectively address disparities in access and participation in HE.

We encourage institutions to use a range of measures to identify disadvantage and under-representation, including individual-level indicators, area data (such as Participation of Local Areas data, Index of Multiple Deprivation or ACORN), school data, intersectional data such as the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service's (UCAS) Multiple Equality Measure and participation in outreach activities. The department is continuing to work with the Office for Students, UCAS and sector representatives to further explore how we can support universities to improve and enhance access to data.


Written Question
Deportation: Human Trafficking
Friday 12th July 2019

Asked by: Edward Miliband (Labour - Doncaster North)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many young people that were victims of trafficking have been removed from the UK after they reached 18 years of age in the last 12 months.

Answered by Caroline Nokes

This Government is committed to supporting victims of trafficking and the introduction of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 has ensured we protect those in need and target those committing this abhorrent crime.

All applications are looked at on a case-by-case basis, with caseworkers giving careful consideration to the circumstances of each individual and no one who is found to be at risk of persecution or serious harm in their country of origin will be returned there.

Unaccompanied child victims who are not granted refugee status or discretion-ary leave to remain are not required to leave the UK unless we are confident that there are safe and adequate reception arrangements in the country to which they will be returned. Instead, leave to remain is granted for 30 months or until they are 17½ years of age, whichever is the shorter period. Upon turn-ing 18, they are expected to return to their home country or make a further ap-plication to the Home Office if they believe they have a lawful basis to remain.

The Government has also set out an ambitious funding programme to tackle modern slavery abroad. Last year the Government announced it would double its official development assistance spend to £150 million to tackle modern slavery internationally. This includes the £33.5m Modern Slavery Fund, which tackles modern slavery in key countries from which victims are regularly traf-ficked to the UK. For example, this Fund has programmes in Nigeria (£5m) and Vietnam (£3m). These programmes will help to catch offenders, support victims and stop people falling into slavery in the first place.

The Home Office record the number of all individuals referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) and this information is published Quarterly by the National Crime Agency. This information does not distinguish an individual’s immigration status.

Providing the information requested would therefore require a manual check of individual records which could only be done at disproportionate cost.