Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 04 March 2019 to Question 226128 on Employment and Support Allowance: Arrears, whether it remains her Department policy that 50 per cent of Presenting Officers attend tribunals.

As previously explained, the Department has recruited 150 Presenting Officers (PO) with further recruitment planned. Adding these to existing POs will help the Department increase its attendance across all benefits, with ESA and PIP the priority. However, it is our main objective to ensure that POs attend hearings of those complex cases where their presence will be of most benefit to the tribunal in reaching the right decision.