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).

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.