Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will place in the Library a copies of the (a) guidance and (b) procedures his Department has issued to tackle long waiting times for personal independence payment appeal tribunal dates.

I will place a copy of the general listing guidance, together with supplementary guidance issued in relation to case management “triage” sessions (introduced with the aim of reducing the time taken for appeals to reach final determination), in the Library. Listing is the responsibility of the independent Judiciary and the guidance is issued in support of this.

Tackling long waiting times in response to increased volumes of appeals is achieved through additional capacity. In order to achieve this we have recruited extra fee paid judicial office holders: 250 Judges across the First-tier Tribunal, 125 disability qualified members and 230 medical members (subject to confirmation of appointment) and are developing a new digital system which enables speedier processing of appeals and a better service for all parties to the tribunal.