Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, at what proportion of personal independence payment appeals his Department is represented.

The Department is in the process of recruiting, training and deploying approximately 150 Presenting Officers at Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Employment Support Allowance Tribunals in order to present the Secretary of State’s case and support the First tier Tribunal in arriving at the right decision.

According to internal data, from April 2017 to date, the PIP Presenting Officers have attended approximately 23 per cent of PIP appeals at the First tier Tribunal. The aim is for the PIP Presenting Officers to attend approximately 50 per cent of all PIP Tribunal hearings.