Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many appeal hearings at the (a) First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) and (b) Upper Tribunal (Administrative Chamber) his Department did not send a representative to in (i) 2012-13, (ii) 2013-14 and (iii) 2014-15.

The department’s policy has been to focus its resources on sending Presenting Officers to the more complex benefit cases and when directed by the tribunal therefore the department sent a representative to all Upper Tribunal appeal hearings notified to them in the three years 2012-13; 2013-14 and 2014-15.

For the First-Tier Tribunal, POs did not attend as follows:

2012/13 238,210 (of 252,992 hearings)

2013/14 293,713 (of 308,502 hearings)

2014/15 78,301 (of 89,689 hearings)