Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department holds data on the (a) outcome and (b) reasoning behind Tribunal verdicts relating to personal independence payment claims; and whether his Department takes steps to use Tribunal verdicts to improve its processes.

His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service provide a Decision Notice in relation to each tribunal to DWP. This contains the outcome of the tribunal and some information on why the decision was reached. This information is recorded on the PIP computer system.

This data only provides one reason per appeal as to why decisions by DWP decision makers have been overturned at a tribunal hearing, and therefore may not give the full story as there may be other reasons.

We are continuing to learn from decisions overturned at appeal. For example, we gather insight from DWP Presenting Officers who regularly provide feedback from hearings they attend, with a view to learning from overturned decisions.