Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people in Aberavon constituency have had personal independence payments overturned as a result of an appeal hearing in each year for which data is available.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Table 1 shows the number and percentage of initial decision awards for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) that were changed after an appeal tribunal hearing, in the Aberavon constituency by the financial year of the initial decision.
Table 1
Financial Year of Initial Decision | Initial Decisions Overturned at Tribunal Hearing | % PIP Initial Decisions Overturned at Tribunal Hearing | All Initial Decisions |
2013/14 | 0 | 4% | 80 |
2014/15 | 110 | 7% | 1,620 |
2015/16 | 130 | 10% | 1,380 |
2016/17 | 350 | 12% | 2,880 |
2017/18 | 100 | 9% | 1,200 |
2018/19 | 80 | 9% | 920 |
2019/20 | 80 | 8% | 1,040 |
2020/21 | 30 | 4% | 820 |
2021/22 | 60 | 6% | 1,090 |
2022/23 | 70 | 5% | 1,440 |
2023/24* | 10 | 1% | 740 |
Table 2 shows the number and percentage of Award Reviews (AR) and Change of Circumstances (CoC) decisions for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) that were changed after an appeal tribunal hearing, in the Aberavon constituency by the financial year of the AR or CoC decision.
Table 2
Financial Year of AR or CoC decision | AR/CoC Decisions Overturned at Tribunal Hearing | % PIP AR/CoC Decisions Overturned at Tribunal Hearing | All AR and CoC Decisions |
2016/17 | 40 | 10% | 370 |
2017/18 | 50 | 8% | 590 |
2018/19 | 80 | 9% | 870 |
2019/20 | 20 | 3% | 690 |
2020/21 | 20 | 2% | 850 |
2021/22 | 10 | 2% | 830 |
2022/23 | 20 | 2% | 920 |
2023/24* | 10 | 1% | 600 |
Please note:
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on Personal Independence Payment tribunals in each year since 2021.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The full cost of a tribunal cannot be ascertained. This is because appeals are a joint process between DWP and HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). DWP do not handle tribunals for appeals; the cost of handling appeal tribunals sits with HMCTS and we do not hold their cost information. If this information were required, we would suggest that this element of your request be submitted to HMCTS.
The department holds information relating to the initial PIP appeals process and that can be provided for financial years 2021/22 to 2023/24. The costs of processing the appeals would include expenditure relating to DWP Presenting Officers who attend some Tribunals. The DWP PIP Presenting Officers costs are detailed below:
PIP | 2021-22 (£m) | 2022-23 (£m) | 2023-24 (£m) |
Presenting Officers | £2.6 | £2.5 | £3.6 |
Cost figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1m.
Data Source: ABM
The cost figures quoted are estimated DWP level 1 operating costs, including both direct delivery staff and non-staff costs. Non-staff costs are only those costs incurred in local cost centres, relating to direct delivery staff.
The figures provided are for PIP Presenting Officers only and excludes Admin Support or Decision Making staff dealing with the initial appeals processing work.
Please note that the data supplied is from the Departmental Activity Based Models. This data is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standards. It should therefore be treated with caution. The Departmental Activity Based staffing models are a snapshot of how many people were identified as undertaking specified activities as assigned by line managers.
The data is frequently revised and changes to definitions / benefits / DWP structure effect comparisons over time. It should therefore be treated with caution and must be seen as an indication of cost, rather than the actual cost.
The 2023/24 model is still in DRAFT and these are not the final approved figures.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average cost to his Department was of a Personal Independence Payment mandatory reconsideration in each year since 2021.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information for the financial years covered by the request are detailed in the tables below:
PIP Unit Costs | 2021-22. | 2022-23. | 2023-24. |
Mandatory Reconsiderations | £113 | £81 | £87 |
Cost figures are rounded to the nearest pound.
Data Source: ABM
The cost figures quoted are estimated DWP level 1 operating costs, including both direct
delivery staff and non-staff costs. Non-staff costs are only those costs incurred in local cost centres, relating to direct delivery staff. They show the average Unit Cost of processing one PIP Mandatory Reconsideration. The reduction in Unit Cost in the latter years follows an
improvement in productivity.
Please note that the data supplied is from the Departmental Activity Based Models. This data is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal
Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official
Statistics publication standards. It should therefore be treated with caution. The Departmental Activity Based staffing models are a snapshot of how many people were identified as undertaking specified activities as assigned by line managers.
The 2023/24 model is still in DRAFT and these are not the final approved figures.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on mandatory reconsiderations of Personal Independence Payment claims in each year since 2021.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information for the financial years covered by the request are detailed in the tables below:
PIP | 2021-22 (£m) | 2022-23 (£m) | 2023-24 (£m) |
Mandatory Reconsiderations | £28.5 | £22.8 | £22.9 |
Cost figures are rounded to the nearest £0.1m
Data Source: ABM
The cost figures quoted are estimated DWP level 1 operating costs, including both direct delivery staff and non-staff costs. Non-staff costs are only those costs incurred in local cost centres, relating to direct delivery staff.
Please note that the data supplied is from the Departmental Activity Based Models. This data is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standards. It should therefore be treated with caution. The Departmental Activity Based staffing models are a snapshot of how many people were identified as undertaking specified activities as assigned by line managers.
The 2023/24 model is still in DRAFT and these are not the final approved figures.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average cost to his Department was of a Personal Independence Payment tribunal appeal in each year since 2021.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
The department holds information relating to the initial appeals process and that can be provided for financial years 2021/22 to 2023/24 but would only include Direct Operating costs and not any wider DWP overheads. The costs of processing the Appeals would include the costs of DWP Presenting Officer who attend some Tribunals.
The full cost of a tribunal cannot be ascertained. This is because appeals are a joint process between DWP and HM Courts and Tribunals Service. DWP do not handle tribunals for appeals; the cost of handling appeal tribunals sits with HM Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), and we do not hold their cost information. If this information were required, we would suggest that this element of your request be submitted to HMCTS.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much local housing allowance was paid in (a) Wales, (b) Neath Port Talbot and (c) Aberavon in each of the the last five years.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Local Housing Allowance expenditure data for Housing Benefit is available by Region and Local Authority, but not at Parliamentary Constituency level. 2021/22 is the latest year where Local Housing Allowance expenditure information is available. The table below shows how much local housing allowance was paid in (a) Wales and (b) Neath Port Talbot in each of the last five years.
Housing Benefit Local Housing Allowance Expenditure |
|
|
|
|
|
£ million, cash | 2017/18 | 2018/19 | 2019/20 | 2020/21 | 2021/22 |
Wales | 260.3 | 223.8 | 173.2 | 150.1 | 127.3 |
Neath Port Talbot | 14.4 | 10.9 | 8.7 | 7.5 | 6.5 |
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to reduce the length of time to determine mandatory reconsiderations for carers allowance.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
A request for a Carer’s Allowance mandatory reconsideration is all part of a wider combined DWP Disputes Resolution Service and Retirement Services Directorate changes of circumstances process.
The DWP has successfully reduced the head of work for Carer’s Allowance change of circumstances, which includes requests for a mandatory reconsideration, over the course of the last six months.
The current average clearance time for processing a change of circumstances is 14.5 days and reducing steadily month-on-month, which will improve the time taken to process mandatory
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time was to determine mandatory reconsiderations for carers allowance as of 1 March 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
This information is only available at disproportionate cost to the Department for Work & Pensions as the department does not have a business requirement for this information to be retained.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit (a) underpayments and (b) overpayments were made due to errors by his Department in each year since 2019.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The department’s national statistics on ‘Fraud and Error in the Benefit System’ include estimates of UC official errors overpaid and underpaid. This is expressed in terms of both value, and as a percentage of cases with error.
To be clear, the percentages of cases with error reflects the average cases incorrect at one time, rather than the total number of errors over the whole year. We express this as a percentage, rather than as a whole number.
Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2021 to 2022 estimates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Year | Estimated percentage of UC cases with underpayments caused by Official Error | Estimated UC expenditure underpaid due to Official Error | Estimated percentage of UC cases with overpayments caused by Official Error | Estimated UC expenditure overpaid due to Official Error |
2019/20 | 2.6% | 0.5% (£90 million) | 4.1% | 1.3% (£250 million) |
2020/21 | 1.7% | 0.4% (£140 million) | 2.2% | 0.9% (£330 million) |
2021/22 | 2.3% | 0.3% (£140 million) | 2.6% | 0.7% (£270 million) |
The DWP has taken significant steps to ensure the accuracy of benefit payments and the vast majority of benefit expenditure is paid correctly. Our Targeted Case Review initiative will review 2 million UC cases over the next 5 years, checking entitlement and helping ensure people are getting the right amount of benefit.
The department remains committed to working with anyone who is struggling with benefit debt deductions and encourages customers experiencing hardship to contact the DWP to discuss their repayment plan.
Asked by: Stephen Kinnock (Labour - Aberavon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the value was of Universal Credit (a) underpayments and (b) overpayments made due to errors by his Department in each year since 2019.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The department’s national statistics on ‘Fraud and Error in the Benefit System’ include estimates of UC official errors overpaid and underpaid. This is expressed in terms of both value, and as a percentage of cases with error.
To be clear, the percentages of cases with error reflects the average cases incorrect at one time, rather than the total number of errors over the whole year. We express this as a percentage, rather than as a whole number.
Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2021 to 2022 estimates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Year | Estimated percentage of UC cases with underpayments caused by Official Error | Estimated UC expenditure underpaid due to Official Error | Estimated percentage of UC cases with overpayments caused by Official Error | Estimated UC expenditure overpaid due to Official Error |
2019/20 | 2.6% | 0.5% (£90 million) | 4.1% | 1.3% (£250 million) |
2020/21 | 1.7% | 0.4% (£140 million) | 2.2% | 0.9% (£330 million) |
2021/22 | 2.3% | 0.3% (£140 million) | 2.6% | 0.7% (£270 million) |
The DWP has taken significant steps to ensure the accuracy of benefit payments and the vast majority of benefit expenditure is paid correctly. Our Targeted Case Review initiative will review 2 million UC cases over the next 5 years, checking entitlement and helping ensure people are getting the right amount of benefit.
The department remains committed to working with anyone who is struggling with benefit debt deductions and encourages customers experiencing hardship to contact the DWP to discuss their repayment plan.