Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of applicants for personal independence payments in Motherwell and Wishaw constituency appealed their personal independence payment decision between June 2013 and June 2014; and how many appeals were submitted for disability living allowance between June 2012 and June 2013.

The First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support), administered by HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS), hears appeals against Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) decisions on a range of benefits, including a person’s entitlement to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance (DLA).

The number of individuals living in the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency who applied for PIP and the outcomes of those applications, between April 2013 and July 2014, can be found in published DWP statistics available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-july-2014.

HMCTS does not keep data on the proportion of benefit claimants who choose to appeal the DWP’s final decision. In the period June 2013 to June 2014, 61 PIP appeals were lodged in the Tribunal venue in Hamilton which serves appellants living in the Motherwell and Wishaw constituency and other nearby locations.

Between June 2012 and June 2013 966 appeals against decisions made by DWP on claims for DLA were lodged at the Hamilton venue.