Personal Independence Payment: Epilepsy

(asked on 22nd February 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 and (b) new claimants of that payment identifying as having a primary condition of epilepsy did not receive an award during their initial assessment but received an award at (i) mandatory reconsideration and (ii) tribunal in Scotland in each year since 2013.


Answered by
Sarah Newton Portrait
Sarah Newton
This question was answered on 27th February 2019

The information requested is shown in the tables below.

Table 1: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) new claims and reassessments for claimants with a primary disabling condition of Epilepsy - initial decisions, Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) and appeals, Scotland

Of which:

Financial year of initial decision

Initial Decisions

Initial decisions - disallowed due to failing the assessment

MR - new decision award changed

Appeal – decision overturned

2013/14

160

50

#

#

2014/15

940

510

10

60

2015/16

910

660

20

120

2016/17

1,440

1,030

30

230

2017/18

1,480

960

60

250

April to Sep 2018

900

340

30

10

Total Decisions

5,830

3,550

150

670

Table 2: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) new claims - initial decisions, Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) and appeals, Scotland

Of which:

Financial year of initial decision

Initial Decisions

Initial decisions - disallowed due to failing the assessment

MR - new decision award changed

Appeal - decision overturned

2013/14

10,470

2,490

140

160

2014/15

55,740

13,180

360

1,190

2015/16

49,020

12,680

370

1,180

2016/17

52,820

13,500

510

1,170

2017/18

57,580

15,910

560

1,620

April to Sep 2018

27,710

8,130

150

90

Total Decisions

253,340

65,890

2,090

5,410

Table 3: Personal Independence Payment (PIP) new claims for claimants with a primary disabling condition of Epilepsy - initial decisions, Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) and appeals, Scotland

Of which:

Financial year of initial decision

Initial Decisions

Initial decisions - disallowed due to failing the assessment

MR - new decision award changed

Appeal - decision overturned

2013/14

160

50

#

#

2014/15

790

450

10

40

2015/16

510

410

10

40

2016/17

550

440

10

50

2017/18

700

500

30

80

April to Sep 2018

400

200

10

10

Total Decisions

3,110

2,050

70

220

Under PIP, 27 per cent of working age claimants with epilepsy recorded as their primary disabling condition receive the highest level of support compared to 6 per cent under Disability Living Allowance when PIP was introduced.

Notes

Tables 2 and 3 are for PIP new claims only, whereas Table 1 is for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims.

In the application process, claimants’ primary disabling condition is only recorded for collation by the Department at assessment. Therefore the initial decisions 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 system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.

The disability subgroup of Epilepsy in the PIP Computer System includes Cataplexy, Generalised seizures (with status epilepticus in last 12 months), Generalised seizures (without status epilepticus in last 12 months), Narcolepsy, Partial seizures (with status epilepticus in last 12 months), Partial seizures (without status epilepticus in last 12 months) and Seizures - unclassified.

PIP data includes normal rules and special rules for the terminally ill claimants.

Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.

Appeals data taken from the DWP PIP computer system’s management information. Therefore this data may differ from that held by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service for various reasons such as delays in data recording and other methodological differences in collating and preparing statistics.

Decisions overturned at appeal may include a number of appeals that have been lapsed (which is where DWP changed the decision after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at Tribunal).

Some decisions which are changed at MR, and where the claimant continues to appeal for a higher PIP award, are then changed again at tribunal appeal. Therefore the number of people who had a decision changed at MR and the number of people who had a decision changed at tribunal appeal cannot be added together.

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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