Personal Independence Payment: Visual Impairment

(asked on 7th January 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of (a) all new claimants of personal independence payment (PIP) and (b) new claimants of PIP identifying as having a primary condition of (i) sight loss and (ii) a visual impairment did not receive an award during their initial PIP assessment but received an award at (A) mandatory reconsideration and (B) tribunal in Scotland in each year since 2013.


Answered by
Sarah Newton Portrait
Sarah Newton
This question was answered on 10th January 2019

The information requested is provided in the tables below.

Table 1: PIP decisions, MRs and appeals – People with a primary disabling condition of visual diseases, Scotland, new claims and reassessments

Initial decisions

Failed initial assessment

Failed initial assessment - Changed at mandatory reconsideration

Failed initial assessment - Overturned at tribunal appeal

2013-14

70

10

#

#

2014-15

420

120

#

10

2015-16

620

150

10

30

2016-17

1,250

220

10

40

2017-18

1,000

230

10

50

Table 2: PIP decisions, MRs and appeals – Scotland, New claims

Initial decisions

Failed initial assessment

Failed initial assessment - Changed at MR

Failed initial assessment - Overturned at appeal

Number

Number

%

Number

%

Number

%

2013-14

10,460

2,480

24%

140

6%

160

6%

2014-15

55,460

13,140

24%

360

3%

1,190

9%

2015-16

48,740

12,640

26%

370

3%

1,180

9%

2016-17

52,560

13,430

26%

510

4%

1,170

9%

2017-18

57,290

15,830

28%

560

4%

1,620

10%

Table 3: PIP decisions, MRs and appeals – People with a primary disabling condition of visual diseases, Scotland, New claims

Initial decisions

Failed initial assessment

Failed initial assessment - Changed at MR

Failed initial assessment - Overturned at appeal

Number

Number

%

Number

%

Number

%

2013-14

70

10

19%

#

#

#

#

2014-15

350

120

33%

#

#

10

8%

2015-16

300

120

40%

#

#

20

14%

2016-17

290

110

38%

#

#

10

11%

2017-18

340

140

41%

#

#

20

16%

Since PIP was introduced 3.7m decisions have been made in Great Britain for all health conditions up to September 2018, of these 10% have been appealed and 5% have been overturned.

The data has been rounded to the nearest 10. # Fewer than 5 in this category.

PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants, and covers new claims and DLA reassessment claims.

In the application process, claimants’ main disabling condition is only recorded for collation by the Department at assessment. Therefore the figures in Table 2 will include claims where the disability has not been recorded due to the assessment not being completed, and are therefore not comparable to the figures in Table 3.

Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer systems. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics. It is not possible to break down the condition of “visual disease” into sight loss or visual impairment from the data.

The appeals may include decisions which are changed at mandatory reconsideration, and where the claimant continues to appeal for a higher PIP award, are then changed again at tribunal appeal.

Claimants who have received benefit decisions more recently may not yet have had time to complete the claimant journey and progress to appeal.

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