Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the average length of time between notification of unsuccessful claims for personal independence payments and tribunal hearing for appeals of those refused claims in the most recent period for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.

This information is not held centrally.

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) records numbers, waiting times and outcomes of appeals by benefit type, but will not necessarily identify appeals made specifically because applications for benefit were unsuccessful. Personal Independence Payment (PIP) consists of a daily living and a mobility component, both or either of which can be paid at standard or enhanced rate. Therefore, claimants for PIP may have claimed for both components, and only been awarded one, or sought the enhanced rate and only been awarded the standard rate. A claim may be successful, but may not have been at the level sought. HMCTS is unable to isolate such appeals.

Information about the volumes and outcomes of PIP appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at:

www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics.

Latest figures (to June 2018) indicate that since PIP was introduced, 3.5 million decisions have been made, and of these 9% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned at tribunals.