Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of personal independence payment appeals resulted in the decision being (a) lapsed and (b) overturned at tribunal hearing in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The tables below provide information on the number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeal clearances; and whether they were lapsed or overturned at a tribunal hearing.
Data provided is for the last five financial years.
Table 1: Number of appeals cleared for each financial year and how many were subsequently lapsed or overturned at a tribunal hearing
Financial Year | Appeals Cleared | Appeals Lapsed | Appeals Overturned |
2019-20 | 99,800 | 27,100 | 53,700 |
2020-21 | 77,000 | 26,300 | 37,000 |
2021-22 | 48,300 | 17,100 | 20,500 |
2022-23 | 65,300 | 19,000 | 30,500 |
2023-24 | 77,700 | 25,600 | 34,400 |
Table 2: Proportion of lapsed or overturned appeals for each financial year
Financial Year | Appeals Lapsed (%) | Appeals Overturned (%) |
2019-20 | 27 | 54 |
2020-21 | 34 | 48 |
2021-22 | 35 | 42 |
2022-23 | 29 | 47 |
2023-24 | 33 | 44 |
Notes:
Asked by: David Linden (Scottish National Party - Glasgow East)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions he has had with the Scottish Government on the upcoming consultation on the Personal Independence Payment reforms.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
The department discusses various aspects of social security with the Scottish Government, at both Ministerial and official level. We continue to engage with the Scottish Government to consider the implications of the proposals outlined in the Prime Minister’s announcement and the Health and Disability Green Paper consultation in Scotland.
Modernising Support for Independent Living: The Health and Disability Green Paper was published on Monday 29 April.
The UK Government is committed to improving the lives of disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in all parts of the UK. Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is devolved in Scotland and has been replaced with Adult Disability Payment. No new claims to PIP have been made in Scotland since August 2022.
However, DWP continues to deliver PIP in Scotland for existing cases on behalf of Scottish Ministers whilst Scottish cases are being transferred to Social Security Scotland. All cases are due to be transferred in 2025 and DWP will no longer have any delegated administrative authority regarding PIP in Scotland once transfer is complete.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people whose personal independence payment appeals resulted in the decision being (a) lapsed and (b) overturned at tribunal hearing had their decision changed from no award to an award of both the daily living and mobility components at the enhanced rate in each of the last five years.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The table below provides information on the total number of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeals, which were either lapsed or overturned at a tribunal hearing. It also includes the number of claimants who had no award prior to the appeal, and had their award changed to Enhanced for both daily living and mobility components post lapsed or overturned appeal. Data provided is for the last five financial years.
Table 1: Number of lapsed and overturned appeals for each financial year and how many subsequently went from nil to enhanced on both daily living and mobility components
Financial Year | Total Appeals Lapsed | Total Appeals Overturned | Appeals Lapsed (Nil award to enhanced-enhanced) | Appeals Overturned (Nil award to enhanced-enhanced) |
2019-20 | 27,100 | 53,700 | 2,900 | 5,100 |
2020-21 | 26,300 | 37,000 | 3,300 | 4,000 |
2021-22 | 17,100 | 20,500 | 1,900 | 2,200 |
2022-23 | 19,000 | 30,500 | 1,900 | 3,800 |
2023-24 | 25,600 | 34,400 | 2,100 | 4,900 |
The table below provides information on the proportion of PIP appeals which were either lapsed or overturned at a tribunal hearing, that previously had no award but had their award changed to enhanced for the daily living and mobility component post appeal. Data is provided for the last five financial years.
Table 2: Proportion of lapsed and overturned appeals whose award changed from nil to enhanced for each financial year
Financial Year | Appeals Lapsed (Nil award to enhanced-enhanced) (%) | Appeals Overturned (Nil award to enhanced-enhanced) (%) |
2019-20 | 11 | 9 |
2020-21 | 12 | 11 |
2021-22 | 11 | 11 |
2022-23 | 10 | 12 |
2023-24 | 8 | 14 |
Notes:
Asked by: Marion Fellows (Scottish National Party - Motherwell and Wishaw)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to end informal observations under Personal Independence Payment for people living with (a) MS and (b) other fluctuating conditions.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
Informal observations during an assessment for claims to Personal Independence Payment can be a useful tool in assessing functional capability. They can reveal abilities and limitations not mentioned in the claimant questionnaire, supporting evidence or during the history-taking for the consultation. They may also show discrepancies between the reported need and the actual needs of the claimant.
Informal observations included in a health professional’s assessment report to DWP are considered alongside all other available evidence including evidence from professionals who may have observed the claimant more regularly to determine entitlement. As informal observations are a useful addition to an assessment, we have no intention to end their use, including for those people with MS or other fluctuating conditions.
Dec. 19 2023
Source Page: Personal Independence Payment at October 2023: summary statisticsFound: Personal Independence Payment at October 2023: summary statistics
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many PIP applications have been disallowed in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
The latest available data on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) clearances can be found on Stat-Xplore. In particular, the requested data can be found in ‘PIP Clearances’ dataset by going to ‘Clearance Type Detail’, choosing ‘Disallowed’ from the drop-down list and selecting the most recent 12 months from the ‘Month’ drop-down menu.
You may also wish to filter for “DWP policy ownership” under ‘Geography’ due to the devolution of some disability benefits to Scotland.
You can log in or access Stat-Xplore as a guest user and, if needed, you can access guidance on how to extract the information required.
Dec. 19 2023
Source Page: Personal Independence Payment at October 2023: summary statisticsFound: Personal Independence Payment at October 2023: summary statistics
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of paying people who are waiting for the outcome of their Personal Independence Payment appeal at the rate they received before their last decision.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is not an income replacement benefit. It is paid to help with the additional costs that arise from long term health conditions or disability where they impact on the activities set out in legislation. Claimants are assessed against the legislative criteria and a decision on entitlement is made by a DWP decision maker.
In line with the legislative requirement, applicable to most social security benefits, we continue to apply the latest decision on a PIP award until such time as a new decision is made. Payment of PIP after a claim has been disallowed, or at a rate higher than the latest decision whilst an individual is waiting for an appeal hearing could lead to inappropriate expenditure of public funds. If a subsequent first-tier tribunal decides to reinstate PIP, or give a higher award, then the Department will backdate any payments due, in line with the new decision.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's publication entitled Modernising support for independent living: the health and disability green paper, published on 29 April 2024, how the outcome of the Personal Independence Payment consultation will interact with the reforms proposed in Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper, published 16 March 2023.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
The Government is removing the Work Capability Assessment because it is committed to doing everything it can to help disabled people and people with long-term health conditions start, stay and succeed in work.
The consultation, Modernising Support for Independent Living: The Health and Disability Green Paper, considers potential changes to the welfare system. Currently, no decisions have been taken on potential changes.
As we develop any proposals, we will consider the interactions with the removal of the Work Capability Assessment. This will be carefully worked through before we consider introducing any changes.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of PIP to cover the extra costs incurred by people with a disability.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on the 14th of May to PQ24769.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is designed to help with the extra costs arising from long-term ill health and disability and is paid regardless of income and irrespective of whether someone is in work. PIP can also be paid in addition to other benefits the individual may receive, for example Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance, and can provide a passport to additional support through premiums or additional amounts.