Personal Independence Payment: Appeals
(asked on 13th September 2017) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the main reasons have been for changes in waiting times for personal independent payment tribunals.
The volume of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals made to the Tribunal has built up since it was introduced as a new benefit in 2013. As the number, and age, of appeals lodged increased so has the average waiting time.
Waiting times generally can fluctuate temporarily and geographically, owing to a number of variable factors, including volumes of benefit decisions made locally, availability of medical/disability members, and venue capacity. Any disparity in waiting times is monitored and investigated locally.
HMCTS has been working with the Tribunal judiciary to identify initiatives with potential to increase the capacity and performance of the Tribunal, including reviewing current listing practices to increase the number of PIP cases being able to be listed on a session. We are also in the process of recruiting over 350 judicial officer holders to provide long term capacity in the Tribunal.
The average waiting time for PIP appeals in each of the last four years, in the Vale of Clwyd constituency, is set out in the table below.
The average time (weeks) from receipt in HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) to outcome for PIP1 Appeals 2 | |
Year3 | Vale of Clwyd4 |
2014/15 | 14 |
2015/16 | 15 |
2016/17 | 22 |
Qtr 1 2017/18 | 33 |
Notes
1 PIP (New Claim Appeals), which replaced Disability Living Allowance from 8 April 2013, also includes Personal Independence Claims (Reassessments). 2 Appeals includes those cleared with and without a tribunal hearing. They may include time spent at the upper tribunal. 3 Full Financial year to date; Quarter 1 April – June 2017. 4 Data on SSCS cases are attributed to the hearing venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. For those living in Vale of Clwyd these are the Prestatyn and Llandudno venues.
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