Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they intend to take in response to the data published by the Department for Work and Pensions on 1 October which showed that most Personal Independence Payment claimants successfully appealing a decision did not present new evidence at tribunals.

The data published was for the period July 2013 up to March 2022, and covers the period since the introduction of the benefit. The aim of the decision-making process is to make the right decision as early as possible in the claim journey. We are constantly looking to improve our processes and learn from tribunal outcomes. Since PIP was introduced in 2013 we have made improvements to our decision-making process to ensure that we not only gather all material evidence as early as possible, but more that we carefully consider that evidence so that we identify the key facts that inform the decision made. Of course, Tribunals are independent and in discussing the same evidence directly with the claimant may obtain a different perspective and thereby reach a different conclusion.