Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of tribunal hearings that challenge a personal independence payment decision have been awarded in favour of the claimant in each year since 2014 in (a) St Helens (b) Merseyside (c) nationally.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Latest figures for PIP (to December 2018) indicate that since it was introduced, 3.9 million decisions have been made. Of these, 10% have been appealed and 5% have been overturned at Tribunals.
Information about outcomes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at:
www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics
SSCS appeals are listed into the hearing venue nearest to the appellant’s home address. The published data (which can be viewed at the link above) provide information about outcomes to PIP appeals in (a) St Helens (b) Merseyside and (c) nationally from 2015/16; data for the preceding year are provided below.
Proportion of Personal Independence Payment 1 hearings in favour of the appellant (National data can be found in the main tables of the published stats. Venue data can be found in the published stats from 2015/2016) | |||
| St Helens 2 | Merseyside3 | National |
Financial Year4 |
|
|
|
2014-2015 | 42% | 44% | 50% |
1 Personal Independence Payment (New Claim Appeals) which replaces Disability Living Allowance was introduced on 8 April 2013, also includes Personal Independence Claims (Reassessments).
2 Data includes data for the St Helens venue. The Warrington & Runcorn venues closed in 2016 when the majority of postcodes for these areas were assigned to the St Helens venue.
3 Data includes data for Liverpool, Birkenhead, St Helens venue. The Warrington & Runcorn venues closed in 2016 when the majority of postcodes for these areas were assigned to the St Helens venue.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for personal independence payments that were refused at mandatory consideration were subsequently overturned at tribunal in (a) St Helens North constituency and (b) Merseyside in (i) 2016-17 and (ii) 2017-18.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The information requested is not held centrally.
Latest figures indicate that since PIP was introduced, more than 3.1 million decisions have been made, and of these under 9% have been appealed and 4% have been overturned.
The statistical record produced by the HM Courts & Tribunal Service computer system records numbers of appeals according to the category of benefit awarded, or not awarded, and the type of issue in dispute, but it will not necessarily identify appeals made specifically because applications for benefit were “refused at mandatory reconsideration”. No such statistical category exists. When a person appeals a decision on a benefit award, that person must first undergo the mandatory reconsideration process of the initial decision with the DWP, before they can appeal to the Tribunal. But the fact that an appeal is made does not necessarily mean the appellant must have been refused at mandatory reconsideration. An award may be made at a rate of payment lower than the appellant had sought. For example, Personal Independence Payment can be awarded for daily living and/or mobility components, and those components can be paid at either the standard, or enhanced, rate.
Information about the number and outcomes of Social Security and Child Support appeals is published on gov.uk. The most recent statistics, for the period January to March 2018, published on 14 June, can be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognitions-certificates-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2018 which include overturn rates for venues in (a) St Helens North constituency and (b) Merseyside for that period.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when the Government plans to publish its response to the recommendations made in the Insurance Fraud Taskforce report of January 2016; and what steps he is taking to reduce fraudulent personal injury claims while ensuring appropriate compensation for genuine claimants.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government published its response to the Insurance Fraud Taskforce’s report on 26 May 2016 (HCWS28), accepting each of the recommendations. We have introduced a number of reforms to reduce fraudulent personal injury claims. We are taking action on package holiday sickness claims, and have commissioned the Civil Justice Council to consider the rules around low value personal injury claims generally so that we can address the incentives to bring unmeritorious claims.
The Government’s whiplash reform programme will help to combat fraudulent personal injury claims, whilst ensuring that genuinely injured claimants are appropriately compensated. Further announcements about these reforms will be made in due course.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for St Helens North dated 14 September 2017.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Minister of State has responded to the letter from hon. Member of St Helens North dated 14 September 2017, sent by email and post on Thursday 16 November 2017.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many applications for personal independence payments that were refused at mandatory consideration were subsequently overturned at tribunal in (a) St Helens North constituency, (b) Merseyside and (c) the UK in each year since 2010.
Answered by Oliver Heald
The table below provides information on the number of personal independence payment (PIP) appeals decided in favour of the appellant from 2013-14, that were heard at (a) the Tribunal venue at St Helens1 which serves appellants living in the St Helens North constituency and other nearby locations; and (b) Merseyside2.
PIP was introduced as a new benefit from 8 April 2013. It is being introduced in stages and will eventually replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for people aged 16 to 64.
National information about the number and outcomes of Social Security and Child Support appeals by benefit type, including PIP, is published in the Tribunal and Gender Recognition Certificate Statistics Quarterly on gov.uk.
Number and percentage3 of PIP appeals found in favour of the appellant | |||
| 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 |
St Helens1 | 1 (25%) | 15 (36%) | 84 (58%) |
Merseyside2 | 10 (43%) | 192 (44%) | 1,064 (58%) |
1 St Helens venue serves appellants living in St Helens North constituency and other nearby locations.
2 Merseyside includes appeals heard at HM Courts & Tribunals Service Social Security and Child Support venues in Liverpool, St Helens and Birkenhead.
3Percentages are calculated relative to the cases cleared at hearing.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many murderers are serving sentences in cases in which the remains of the victims have not been recovered.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The information requested is not available.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many murder convictions there have been since 1988 in cases in which the remains of the victim have not been recovered.
Answered by Sam Gyimah
The information requested is not available.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many decisions taken on claims for (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments have been appealed in (i) St Helens North constituency and (ii) Merseyside in each of the last five years; and how many of those appeals have been successful.
Answered by Shailesh Vara
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) does not hold accurate information on the volumes of appeals received against claims for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP), as not all appeals relate to claims.
Information about the volumes and outcomes of appeals to the Tribunal is published at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2016. The information provided below is a further breakdown of this data.
The tables below provide information on the number of appeals against decisions taken on ESA and PIP claims that were found in favour of the appellant, that were heard at (i) the Tribunal venue at St Helens1 which serves appellants living in the St Helens North constituency and other nearby locations; and (ii) Merseyside2.
ESA claims (excluding reassessment decisions) | |||||
| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 |
St Helens1 | 0 | 45 | 160 | 83 | 115 |
Merseyside2 | 1,722 | 1,774 | 3,083 | 881 | 1,401 |
PIP3 claims (excluding reassessment decisions) | |||||
| 2011-12 | 2012-13 | 2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 |
St Helens1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62 |
Merseyside2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 191 | 726 |
1 St Helens venue serves appellants living in St Helens North constituency and other nearby locations.
2 Merseyside includes appeals heard at HMCTS SSCS venues in Liverpool, St Helens and Birkenhead.
3PIP started to replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for people aged 16 to 64 from 8 April 2013.
Although care is taken when processing and analysing the data, the details are subject to inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale case management system
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of the proposed increase in the small claims limit for personal injury on access to justice.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government will consult on the detail of the new reforms in due course, including any necessary safeguards. The consultation will be accompanied by an impact assessment.
Asked by: Conor McGinn (Independent - St Helens North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that insurers cannot under-settle claims made in person following an increase in the small claims limit.
Answered by Dominic Raab
The Government will consult on the detail of the new reforms in due course, including any necessary safeguards. The consultation will be accompanied by an impact assessment.