Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) current waiting time and (b) waiting time was in each year since 2010 for appeals relating to (i) personal independence payments and (ii) employment and support allowance in (A) Huddersfield, (B) Bradford and (C) Leeds.

PIP was introduced in 2013, therefore this explains the sharp increase in waiting times since 2013.

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. For ESA the figure is only 8% of decisions made were appealed and 4% have been overturned at tribunals.

The information requested is in the table below:

1. Data include cases cleared with and without a Tribunal hearing
2. Personal Independent Payment (New Claim Appeals) which replaces Disability Living Allowance was introduced on the 8 April 2013, also includes Personal Independent Claims (Reassessments)
3. Data include 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.

~ Equates to a value fewer than 5

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

The data may differ slightly to that of the published stats as these data were run on a different date.

The volume of PIP appeals made to the tribunal has built up over time since it was introduced as a new benefit in 2013.

Clearance times are dependent on several factors, such as the availability of the appellant or their representative, or hearing capacity at the local Tribunal venue. Additionally, a decision on the appeal may be reached after a hearing has been adjourned (which may be directed by the judge for a variety of reasons, such as to seek further evidence), or after a hearing has been postponed (again, for a variety of reasons, often at the request of the appellant). An appeal may also have been referred back to the First-tier Tribunal by the Upper Tribunal for disposal. Cases may also have been stayed at the First-tier Tribunal, pending a decision by the Upper Tribunal on a lead case.