Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps are being taken to limit the practice of sending successful PIP appeal cases back to the First-Tier Tribunal for a rerun.

There are no circumstances in which an appeal outcome would be sent back to the Tribunals Service with a request that it should be re-heard. The Secretary of State would refer a tribunal decision back to the Tribunals Service, where for example the tribunal’s decision was for some reason unimplementable and clarification was needed so that payment could be made – this is not a request for the case to be re-heard. The Secretary of State can also ask for a decision to be set aside and can seek permission to appeal a decision to the Upper Tribunal – both could result in a re-hearing but the grounds for applying are strictly limited. And ultimately it is of course for the tribunal to decide how such requests should be handled.