Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appellants against decisions on (a) employment and support allowance, (b) personal independence payments, (c) disability living allowance and (d) universal credit were represented at First-tier Tribunal in London in each year since 2016.

Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) appeals are listed into the hearing venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. The table below contains the requested information for (a) Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), (b) Personal Independence Payments (PIP), (c) Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and (d) Universal Credit (UC) for the hearing venues covering London¹ for the period January 2016 to December 2019 (the latest date for which data are available).

¹ Includes HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) Regional venues Bexleyheath, Fox Court, Enfield, Hatton Cross, London East, Romford and Sutton.

² Representative data is correct as at the time the report is run, and is based on whether HMCTS has been notified at some point within the appeal process that the appellant has a representative.

³ Data based on oral and domiciliary hearings where the parties to the proceedings attending. Representation data are based on whether a representative was recorded as having attended the Tribunal hearing. It does not indicate whether an appellant used a representative at any other time during the appeals process. A representative can be anyone that the appellant has nominated as their representative.

⁴ Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit reassessment. Employment and Support Allowance was introduced in October 2008 and Incapacity Benefit reassessment followed in October 2010.

⁵ Personal Independence Payment (New Claim Appeals) which replaces Disability Living Allowance was introduced on 8 April 2013, also includes Personal Independence Claims (Reassessments).

⁶ Disability Living Allowance was replaced by Personal Independence Payment (New Claims) on 8 April 2013.

⁷ Universal Credit was introduced on 29 April 2013 in selected areas of Greater Manchester and Cheshire and gradually rolled out to the rest of the UK from October 2013.

⁸ Calendar year January – December.

^p Provisional data and subject to change.

Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system and are the best data that are available.

An appellant may seek assistance from a representative at any stage in the appeal process. They may attend their SSCS appeal hearing with or without a representative even if they have been supported by a representative at an earlier stage. A representative does not have to be legally qualified and could be a friend, relative or from a welfare rights organisation, advice centre, law centre or a solicitor.

The tribunal process is designed to be as informal and user friendly as possible and the panel will help an appellant to provide it with the relevant evidence. This helps individuals to understand the process and to take part without the need for professional representation.