Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals against the disallowance of (a) employment and support allowance, (b) personal independence payment and (c) disability living allowance lapsed prior to the date of their hearing at the First Tier Tribunal in (a) 2018 and (b) 2019.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
This information is not held centrally.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service keeps a statistical record of appeals according to the benefit, and underlying issue, in dispute. However, no issue type corresponds to ‘disallowance’.
General information about appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) (SSCS) is published at: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding the Department for Work and Pensions allocated to Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service in (a) 2018-19 and (b) 2019-20; and what proportion of the cost of the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) that funding represented in each of those years.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Responsibility for the funding of the operation of the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) transferred, with funding from the Department for Work and Pensions to the Ministry of Justice on the creation of the Tribunals Service on 1 April 2006.
The contribution that the Department for Work and Pensions currently makes towards the costs of the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support), covers the additional costs of that tribunal because of the introduction of the Personal Independence Payment benefit. This has led to an increase both in the number of appeals to the tribunal and, due to the increased complexity of the tests involved, their length and cost.
£000s | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | |
a | Contribution from DWP | 35,341 | 39,998 |
b | Total Costs1 | 117,804 | n/a |
c | Proportion | 30% | n/a |
1 Total cost of the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) includes both direct and indirect costs. Total cost information by jurisdiction for 2019-20 will not be available until the financial accounts have been audited.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the formula is for calculating the Department for Work and Pensions’ contribution to the cost of the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support).
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Prime responsibility for the funding of the operation of what is now the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) transferred, along with funding from what is now the Department for Work and Pensions to what is now the Ministry of Justice on the creation of the Tribunals Service on 1 April 2006.
The contribution that the Department for Work and Pensions currently makes towards the costs of the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) covers the additional costs of that tribunal as a consequence of the introduction of the Personal Independence Payment benefit, which has led to an increase both in the number of appeals to the tribunal and, due to the increased complexity of the tests involved, their length and cost.
The formula is based upon incremental costs for the increase in complexity and increase in volumes of cases coming through the system. The incremental costs are primarily judicial and staff costs to process and hear the cases. A fixed charge reflexing the increased complexity is levied for the baseline number of cases (70,687). All receipts and disposals above the baseline are charged based on the full incremental cost incurred.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 3 July 2019 to Question 270759, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service of administering appeals against the Department for Work and Pensions’ disallowance of employment and support allowance.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
The information requested is not held centrally. The cost of hearings for employment support allowance and personal independence payment are included in the overall cost of the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support Appeal).
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of universal credit data collected by the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) which relates to (a) limited capability for work, (b) right to reside and (c) other issues.
Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)
Universal Credit (UC) is a benefit made up of component parts, known as ‘Elements’. An award of UC may comprise one or more Elements, depending on the circumstances of the claimant.
The Elements are:
- Standard allowance
- Child element
- Childcare costs
- Limited cap ability for work-related activity element (LCWRA)
- Carer element
- Housing costs element
For the period October to December 2019, the latest period for which data are available, LCWRA represented 66% of the Elements recorded against UC appeals.
Under each Element is a wide range of disputable issue types. The type of issue most closely corresponding to the category ‘right to reside’ is ‘habitual residence test’ (HRT).
As a proportion of the issues recorded under all Elements of all UC appeals, between October and December 2019, HRT was 7%, with issues other than HRT being 93%.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 266835, HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Finance, for what reason the figure for the sum paid by the Department for Work and Pensions towards the cost of administering the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) in 2018-19 was not published, and when he plans to make that figure available.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The HM Courts & Tribunals Service Annual Report and Accounts for 2018/19 has yet to be audited for publication Figures for 2018/19 were therefore not published or included in the previous response.
The figure for 2018/19 will be provided within the Note 8 (Operating Income) in the 2018/19 HMCTS Annual Report and Accounts and this will be published when the audit has completed and the accounts laid before Parliament. We expect this to happen before the summer recess.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 266835, HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Finance, why the Department for Work and Pensions contributes to the cost of administering the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) for appeals on attendance allowance, disability living allowance and personal independence payments, but is not required to contribute towards the cost of administering appeals against the disallowance of employment support allowance.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Prime responsibility for the funding of the operation of what is now the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) transferred, along with funding from what is now the Department for Work and Pensions to what is now the Ministry of Justice on the creation of the Tribunals Service on 1 April 2006.
The contribution that the Department for Work and Pensions currently makes towards the costs of the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) covers the additional costs of that tribunal as a consequence of the introduction of the Personal Independence Payment benefit, which has led to an increase both in the number of appeals to the tribunal and, due to the increased complexity of the tests involved, their length and cost.
No additional contribution is required towards the administration of Employment Support Allowance appeals as the cost of this tribunal has not been affected by a subsequent policy change.
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding has been provided by the Department for Work and Pensions towards the cost of Her Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service in each of the last four years; and what proportion of the cost of the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) that funding represented in each of those years.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunal Service (HMCTS) is responsible for the cost of administering First Tier Tribunals (SSCS). The tribunals hear appeals against decisions made by the Department for Work and Pensions on a range of benefits. The Department of Work and Pensions’ (DWP) contribute towards the cost of Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment appeals. The HMCTS gross cost of administering the tribunal and DWP income received for the last four years are detailed in the table below.
First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support)
£000s | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | 2016-17 | 2017-18 |
Total Direct Expenditure | 71,380 | 78,040 | 88,124 | 100,022 |
Income from Department for Work and Pensions | 11,000 | 16,000 | 12,433 | 29,156 |
Proportion of Income to Expenditure | 15% | 21% | 14% | 29% |
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average timescale is for the conclusion of a judicial review.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
From January to December 2018 the average clearance time for a Judicial Review in the Administrative Court, from lodgement to a final hearing decision was 167 days. The published data is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/civil-justice-statistics-october-to-december-2018
Asked by: Rushanara Ali (Labour - Bethnal Green and Bow)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average timescale is for an immigration case to be heard at the First Tier Tribunal in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Answered by Lucy Frazer - Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
The average waiting time from the receipt of an appeal to the hearing in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) October 2018 to December 2018 was 39 weeks, 11 weeks shorter compared to the same period a year ago.
Between October 2018 and December 2018 34% of the 1,153 appeals determined by the Upper Tribunal were successful. This figure includes appeals brought by both individual appellants and the Home Office on a point of law.