West Midlands - Written Answers

Written Question

Foreign Investment and Overseas Trade: Birmingham

Thursday 25th April 2024

Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is making to promote (a) international trade and (b) investment opportunities for businesses based in Birmingham.

Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Department for Business and Trade’s export promotion campaign ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’ is tailored regionally, and in March 2024 Lord Offord, Minister for Exports held the ‘Made in the Midlands’ Roadshow in the region

The International Trade Advisory Service has staff in Birmingham supporting businesses to export. The Export Academy provides online educational support and the Export Digital Enquiry Service answers specific international trade queries

The Government has provided £160M for the creation of a West Midlands Investment Zone. The West Midlands Combined Authority estimate that this may bring up to £5.5B investment and 30,000 new jobs by 2034.

Written Question

Universal Credit: Appeals

Thursday 25th April 2024

Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals relating to Universal Credit claims are awaiting a hearing (a) nationally, (b) by region, (c) by Tribunal Office and (d) by hearing venue; what the average length of time between such appeals being (i) lodged and (ii) heard is (A) nationally, (B) by region, (C) by Tribunal Office and (D) by hearing venue; and in how many cases the length of time waited has exceeded this average (1) nationally, (2) by region, (3) by Tribunal Office and (4) by hearing venue as of 22 April 2024.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

The tables below set out the number of Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance, Employment Support Allowance and Universal Credit appeals awaiting a hearing (a) nationally, (b) by region, and (d) by hearing venue as at end of December 2023 (the latest period for which data are available). There are no separate data collated at (c) tribunal office level.

Information about the average length of time between appeals being lodged and heard; and in how many case the length of time waited has exceeded this average is not held centrally.

Personal Independence Payment¹ at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	6804	3861	980
Bexleyheath	1	1	0
East London	1543	905	234
Enfield	27	11	3
Fox Court	3318	1846	483
Hatton Cross	243	98	72
Romford	512	353	67
Sutton	1160	647	121
Midlands	9330	5052	1369
Birmingham	1984	1007	354
Boston	202	134	25
Chesterfield	457	255	57
Coventry	698	442	71
Derby	701	417	91
Hereford	101	43	20
Kidderminster	144	60	30
Leicester	813	415	108
Lincoln	427	258	46
Northampton	488	328	56
Nottingham	1135	610	168
Nuneaton	99	58	13
Shrewsbury	333	185	46
Stoke	427	228	63
Walsall	316	136	66
Wellingborough	196	114	22
Wolverhampton	637	262	110
Worcester	172	100	23
North East	7061	3468	1316
Barnsley	193	71	38
Bedlington	159	66	44
Berwick	14	6	3
Bradford	691	334	131
Darlington	356	195	49
Doncaster	316	142	51
Durham	333	169	77
Gateshead	78	33	21
Grimsby	186	80	37
Huddersfield	32	10	8
Hull	342	181	65
Leeds	514	165	132
Newcastle	332	122	80
North Shields	134	34	46
Scarborough	158	75	29
Sheffield	737	381	119
South Shields	233	112	53
Sunderland	545	349	53
Teesside	871	581	85
Wakefield	687	322	138
York	150	40	57
North West	7362	4250	1066
Barrow	84	53	10
Birkenhead	355	223	43
Blackburn	311	180	58
Blackpool	355	189	69
Bolton	414	231	69
Burnley	263	151	31
Carlisle	165	86	32
Chester	500	315	65
Lancaster	105	66	1
Liverpool	1023	495	155
Manchester	1319	821	164
Preston	248	123	58
Rochdale	436	216	90
St Helens	512	301	73
Stockport	699	451	68
Wigan	427	267	49
Workington	146	82	31
Scotland	263	68	114
Aberdeen	3	1	1
Ayr	11	1	4
Dumfries (Cairndale)	3	1	1
Dundee	6	0	2
Dunfermline	7	3	3
Edinburgh	70	19	36
Galashiels	6	1	3
Glasgow	89	24	36
Greenock	5	1	4
Hamilton	24	3	6
Inverness	7	4	1
Kilmarnock	2	1	1
Kirkcaldy	22	8	11
Oban	2	1	1
Stirling	4	0	2
Stranraer	1	0	1
Wick	1	0	1
South East	7696	4930	574
Ashford	556	349	38
Basildon	264	144	43
Bedford	200	133	17
Brighton	842	541	40
Cambridge	238	122	30
Chatham	466	355	23
Chelmsford	408	265	33
Eastbourne	98	64	8
Hastings	243	177	10
High Wycombe	321	192	32
Ipswich	411	283	22
Kings Lynn	181	91	13
Luton	363	229	16
Margate	257	162	20
Milton Keynes	212	119	27
Norwich	659	470	43
Oxford	311	216	27
Peterborough	307	165	33
Reading	361	224	21
Southend	95	33	21
Stevenage	163	94	14
Watford	740	502	43
South West	5916	3428	625
Unallocated ³	177	115	11
Aldershot	289	162	38
Barnstaple	80	36	8
Bristol	1167	724	122
Exeter	224	80	49
Gloucester	432	257	38
Havant	657	440	45
Newport IOW	222	153	13
Newton Abbot	246	126	29
Plymouth	384	193	55
Poole	441	249	49
Salisbury	46	10	10
Southampton	606	401	40
Swindon	320	218	23
Taunton	239	134	24
Truro	255	68	59
Worle	131	62	12
Wales	4181	2180	514
Aberystwyth	49	24	6
Caernarfon	101	23	15
Cardiff	1746	949	250
Carmarthen	72	15	19
Haverfordwest	105	39	16
Langstone, Newport	793	459	76
Llandrindod Wells	32	16	8
Llangefni	199	121	18
Port Talbot	305	112	35
Prestatyn	277	170	13
Swansea	194	75	25
Welshpool	52	31	8
Wrexham	256	146	25
SSCS Regional Centre Not Known	10	4	0
National	48623	27241	6558

Disability Living Allowance at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	592	426	73
East London	149	114	22
Enfield	2	2	0
Fox Court	264	180	36
Hatton Cross	20	14	3
Romford	54	41	4
Sutton	103	75	8
Midlands	597	394	91
Birmingham	164	84	39
Boston	10	9	0
Chesterfield	26	20	2
Coventry	46	35	4
Derby	40	32	5
Hereford	7	5	0
Kidderminster	11	8	1
Leicester	43	32	8
Lincoln	36	25	1
Northampton	26	19	4
Nottingham	63	41	10
Nuneaton	4	3	0
Shrewsbury	20	15	3
Stoke	30	23	4
Walsall	19	10	1
Wellingborough	10	9	1
Wolverhampton	34	17	8
Worcester	8	7	0
North East	489	326	68
Barnsley	15	9	2
Bedlington	9	7	0
Bradford	54	36	8
Darlington	29	20	4
Doncaster	14	5	2
Durham	20	15	4
Gateshead	3	1	1
Grimsby	12	5	4
Huddersfield	1	1	0
Hull	23	16	5
Leeds	30	8	12
Newcastle	16	7	5
North Shields	3	2	0
Scarborough	9	5	2
Sheffield	71	52	3
South Shields	19	11	4
Sunderland	40	29	3
Teesside	67	61	1
Wakefield	47	32	6
York	7	4	2
North West	535	372	87
Barrow	5	4	0
Birkenhead	32	19	7
Blackburn	26	17	6
Blackpool	19	10	2
Bolton	30	20	5
Burnley	14	11	2
Carlisle	9	3	4
Chester	20	14	4
Lancaster	6	6	0
Liverpool	70	45	12
Manchester	113	89	14
Preston	14	9	2
Rochdale	40	25	10
St Helens	42	27	9
Stockport	60	49	4
Wigan	31	21	6
Workington	4	3	0
Scotland	8	2	3
Ayr	2	1	0
Dundee	1	0	0
Edinburgh	2	0	2
Glasgow	1	0	0
Inverness	1	0	1
Kirkcaldy	1	1	0
South East	555	427	52
Ashford	33	24	3
Basildon	25	15	5
Bedford	20	16	1
Brighton	46	36	2
Cambridge	10	4	6
Chatham	47	41	4
Chelmsford	38	28	4
Eastbourne	4	3	0
Hastings	13	10	1
High Wycombe	27	18	5
Ipswich	30	23	2
Kings Lynn	12	10	2
Luton	27	26	0
Margate	15	14	1
Milton Keynes	14	8	3
Norwich	46	37	3
Oxford	23	18	1
Peterborough	19	14	3
Reading	26	23	0
Southend	8	4	3
Stevenage	12	8	1
Watford	60	47	2
South West	394	266	45
Unallocated ³	10	6	2
Aldershot	26	20	2
Barnstaple	3	1	0
Bristol	79	52	9
Exeter	13	4	3
Gloucester	27	15	4
Havant	48	33	6
Newport IOW	13	11	1
Newton Abbot	12	8	0
Plymouth	21	15	2
Poole	30	23	2
Salisbury	3	0	1
Southampton	36	26	5
Swindon	24	19	2
Taunton	21	17	2
Truro	16	9	4
Worle	12	7	0
Wales	247	148	35
Aberystwyth	3	3	0
Caernarfon	3	1	2
Cardiff	115	61	18
Carmarthen	1	0	1
Haverfordwest	4	0	3
Langstone, Newport	45	33	3
Llandrindod Wells	1	1	0
Llangefni	13	10	1
Port Talbot	15	9	2
Prestatyn	16	13	0
Swansea	9	3	4
Welshpool	1	0	0
Wrexham	21	14	1
SSCS Regional Centre Not Known	1	0	0
National	3418	2361	454

Employment and Support Allowance⁴at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	380	158	28
East London	116	59	4
Enfield	2	0	0
Fox Court	149	47	17
Hatton Cross	19	8	3
Romford	24	12	2
Sutton	70	32	2
Midlands	667	351	88
Birmingham	112	57	19
Boston	21	11	1
Chesterfield	33	14	7
Coventry	48	29	5
Derby	48	26	6
Hereford	9	4	2
Kidderminster	13	8	2
Leicester	69	44	7
Lincoln	17	8	1
Northampton	32	14	4
Nottingham	65	31	12
Nuneaton	7	2	0
Shrewsbury	38	21	7
Stoke	49	29	0
Walsall	25	13	4
Wellingborough	11	6	1
Wolverhampton	56	25	8
Worcester	14	9	2
North East	468	188	62
Barnsley	18	7	5
Bedlington	14	2	3
Bradford	41	17	3
Darlington	23	8	2
Doncaster	17	8	2
Durham	22	8	4
Gateshead	5	0	0
Grimsby	19	7	2
Hull	20	15	0
Leeds	20	7	1
Newcastle	25	9	3
North Shields	19	3	5
Scarborough	12	4	4
Sheffield	40	15	6
South Shields	27	8	1
Sunderland	38	20	3
Teesside	49	25	6
Wakefield	42	18	7
York	17	7	5
North West	323	82	72
Barrow	5	0	1
Birkenhead	9	1	2
Blackburn	13	3	3
Blackpool	13	1	4
Bolton	21	6	4
Burnley	7	0	3
Carlisle	9	1	1
Chester	25	5	6
Lancaster	7	3	0
Liverpool	38	16	7
Manchester	50	15	12
Preston	4	2	1
Rochdale	28	6	5
St Helens	21	1	2
Stockport	40	17	9
Wigan	24	4	9
Workington	9	1	3
Scotland	214	20	70
Aberdeen	13	0	3
Ayr	17	1	6
Campbeltown Centre	1	0	0
Dumfries (Cairndale)	9	0	7
Dundee	12	0	3
Dunfermline	5	0	1
Edinburgh	27	1	15
Galashiels	6	2	1
Glasgow	50	6	18
Greenock	12	3	0
Hamilton	19	3	3
Inverness	14	0	6
Kilmarnock	2	0	1
Kirkcaldy	8	2	2
Lerwick	2	0	0
Stirling	17	2	4
South East	420	209	48
Ashford	20	10	1
Basildon	16	7	2
Bedford	13	7	1
Brighton	39	20	6
Cambridge	11	5	1
Chatham	16	8	3
Chelmsford	37	18	3
Eastbourne	2	2	0
Hastings	9	3	4
High Wycombe	19	8	1
Ipswich	25	14	1
Kings Lynn	15	7	3
Luton	22	13	1
Margate	4	1	0
Milton Keynes	9	5	1
Norwich	36	17	5
Oxford	21	13	3
Peterborough	32	12	3
Reading	34	19	4
Southend	2	2	0
Stevenage	9	6	1
Watford	29	12	4
South West	490	295	15
Unallocated ³	14	8	3
Aldershot	31	24	0
Barnstaple	6	4	0
Bristol	80	42	4
Exeter	12	5	1
Gloucester	35	21	0
Havant	65	43	1
Newport IOW	27	21	2
Newton Abbot	26	15	0
Plymouth	31	19	0
Poole	32	25	1
Salisbury	7	3	0
Southampton	49	26	1
Swindon	17	8	2
Taunton	22	12	0
Truro	21	12	0
Worle	15	7	0
Wales	434	278	13
Aberystwyth	10	5	3
Caernarfon	10	6	1
Cardiff	155	108	3
Carmarthen	10	6	0
Haverfordwest	13	8	0
Langstone, Newport	88	55	1
Llandrindod Wells	1	1	0
Llangefni	23	15	0
Port Talbot	37	26	0
Prestatyn	24	14	2
Swansea	27	11	0
Welshpool	13	6	3
Wrexham	23	17	0
SSCS Regional Centre Not Known	3	0	2
National	3399	1581	398

Universal Credit⁵at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	2659	1361	215
East London	566	294	57
Enfield	8	2	1
Fox Court	1468	754	94
Hatton Cross	102	40	13
Romford	169	85	34
Sutton	346	186	16
Midlands	2602	1489	406
Birmingham	713	381	142
Boston	51	34	7
Chesterfield	62	34	11
Coventry	202	125	14
Derby	159	87	31
Hereford	21	16	0
Kidderminster	20	15	2
Leicester	265	160	29
Lincoln	123	74	19
Northampton	126	82	16
Nottingham	253	148	50
Nuneaton	11	7	0
Shrewsbury	78	45	7
Stoke	99	55	9
Walsall	116	64	15
Wellingborough	43	29	6
Wolverhampton	218	109	44
Worcester	42	24	4
North East	2007	1012	385
Barnsley	55	26	13
Bedlington	46	20	15
Berwick	5	3	0
Bradford	208	118	30
Darlington	70	26	19
Doncaster	84	31	18
Durham	40	17	7
Gateshead	24	11	10
Grimsby	69	41	11
Huddersfield	3	0	0
Hull	108	62	16
Leeds	173	68	30
Newcastle	229	109	48
North Shields	45	16	9
Scarborough	49	24	15
Sheffield	160	67	40
South Shields	71	40	13
Sunderland	124	79	12
Teesside	227	137	37
Wakefield	170	88	32
York	47	29	10
North West	1512	572	308
Barrow	12	6	1
Birkenhead	34	15	5
Blackburn	33	15	2
Blackpool	54	13	10
Bolton	107	32	24
Burnley	65	29	8
Carlisle	29	14	4
Chester	61	17	6
Lancaster	27	13	3
Liverpool	179	49	34
Manchester	467	226	112
Preston	35	7	8
Rochdale	91	23	17
St Helens	79	34	13
Stockport	141	45	43
Wigan	85	29	17
Workington	13	5	1
Scotland	658	187	219
Aberdeen	33	8	15
Ayr	40	12	13
Dumfries (Cairndale)	13	1	5
Dundee	44	10	13
Dunfermline	14	3	2
Edinburgh	120	31	40
Galashiels	14	6	3
Glasgow	206	64	71
Greenock	25	6	10
Hamilton	59	17	19
Inverness	22	3	9
Kilmarnock	2	0	0
Kirkcaldy	22	9	4
Kirkwall	1	0	1
Lerwick	1	0	1
Lewis	2	0	1
Oban	4	1	2
Stirling	29	13	9
Stranraer	3	2	0
Wick	4	1	1
South East	2002	1053	321
Ashford	117	47	28
Basildon	70	24	19
Bedford	48	30	6
Brighton	173	76	35
Cambridge	68	33	11
Chatham	70	27	21
Chelmsford	107	62	11
Eastbourne	26	15	3
Hastings	43	27	8
High Wycombe	125	70	14
Ipswich	89	54	8
Kings Lynn	36	18	12
Luton	110	65	16
Margate	39	18	8
Milton Keynes	48	27	6
Norwich	145	86	22
Oxford	111	66	13
Peterborough	91	45	14
Reading	141	73	21
Southend	65	37	16
Stevenage	45	27	2
Watford	235	126	27
South West	1744	1121	65
Unallocated ³	43	26	2
Aldershot	120	74	5
Barnstaple	24	15	0
Bristol	342	219	11
Exeter	59	32	0
Gloucester	136	99	7
Havant	187	133	5
Newport IOW	49	35	4
Newton Abbot	61	34	4
Plymouth	84	52	0
Poole	159	96	9
Salisbury	15	6	1
Southampton	162	106	5
Swindon	108	71	5
Taunton	71	42	0
Truro	87	58	3
Worle	37	23	4
Wales	1019	712	62
Aberystwyth	16	8	1
Caernarfon	53	32	6
Cardiff	389	277	18
Carmarthen	20	14	0
Haverfordwest	28	19	1
Langstone, Newport	179	133	9
Llandrindod Wells	3	3	0
Llangefni	27	20	1
Port Talbot	91	68	3
Prestatyn	74	46	9
Swansea	58	43	3
Welshpool	14	8	3
Wrexham	67	41	8
National	14203	7507	1981

From April 2023 the SSCS Tribunal started to list cases using a new Scheduling and Listing solution. This, alongside HMCTS migrating to a new Strategic Data Platform, has resulted in some cases heard and decided using this new listing solution not currently being included in the data above.

1. Personal Independence Payment (New Claim Appeals) which replaces Disability Living Allowance was introduced on 8 April 2013, also includes Personal Independence Clams (Reassessments)

2. Data pulled 23/4/2024

3. Unallocated relates to appeals that have not yet been allocated to a venue.

4. Data includes Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit reassessment. Employment and Support Allowance was introduced in October 2008 and Incapacity Benefit reassessment followed in October 2010.

5. Universal Credit was introduced on 29 April 2013 in selected areas of Greater Manchester and Cheshire, and has been gradually rolled out to the rest of the UK from October 2013.

Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that the data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when data are used.

Management information reflects the data held on the case management system, which is subject to change, and can differ from the quality-assured MOJ official statistics, which form the agreed definitive position.

Written Question

Personal Independence Payment: Appeals

Thursday 25th April 2024

Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals relating to Personal Independence Payment claims are awaiting a hearing (a) nationally, (b) by region, (c) by Tribunal Office and (d) by hearing venue; what the average length of time between such appeals being (i) lodged and (ii) heard is (A) nationally, (B) by region, (C) by Tribunal Office and (D) by hearing venue; and in how many cases the length of time waited has exceeded this average (1) nationally, (2) by region, (3) by Tribunal Office and (4) by hearing venue as of 22 April 2024.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Information about the average length of time between appeals being lodged and heard; and in how many case the length of time waited has exceeded this average is not held centrally.

Personal Independence Payment¹ at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	6804	3861	980
Bexleyheath	1	1	0
East London	1543	905	234
Enfield	27	11	3
Fox Court	3318	1846	483
Hatton Cross	243	98	72
Romford	512	353	67
Sutton	1160	647	121
Midlands	9330	5052	1369
Birmingham	1984	1007	354
Boston	202	134	25
Chesterfield	457	255	57
Coventry	698	442	71
Derby	701	417	91
Hereford	101	43	20
Kidderminster	144	60	30
Leicester	813	415	108
Lincoln	427	258	46
Northampton	488	328	56
Nottingham	1135	610	168
Nuneaton	99	58	13
Shrewsbury	333	185	46
Stoke	427	228	63
Walsall	316	136	66
Wellingborough	196	114	22
Wolverhampton	637	262	110
Worcester	172	100	23
North East	7061	3468	1316
Barnsley	193	71	38
Bedlington	159	66	44
Berwick	14	6	3
Bradford	691	334	131
Darlington	356	195	49
Doncaster	316	142	51
Durham	333	169	77
Gateshead	78	33	21
Grimsby	186	80	37
Huddersfield	32	10	8
Hull	342	181	65
Leeds	514	165	132
Newcastle	332	122	80
North Shields	134	34	46
Scarborough	158	75	29
Sheffield	737	381	119
South Shields	233	112	53
Sunderland	545	349	53
Teesside	871	581	85
Wakefield	687	322	138
York	150	40	57
North West	7362	4250	1066
Barrow	84	53	10
Birkenhead	355	223	43
Blackburn	311	180	58
Blackpool	355	189	69
Bolton	414	231	69
Burnley	263	151	31
Carlisle	165	86	32
Chester	500	315	65
Lancaster	105	66	1
Liverpool	1023	495	155
Manchester	1319	821	164
Preston	248	123	58
Rochdale	436	216	90
St Helens	512	301	73
Stockport	699	451	68
Wigan	427	267	49
Workington	146	82	31
Scotland	263	68	114
Aberdeen	3	1	1
Ayr	11	1	4
Dumfries (Cairndale)	3	1	1
Dundee	6	0	2
Dunfermline	7	3	3
Edinburgh	70	19	36
Galashiels	6	1	3
Glasgow	89	24	36
Greenock	5	1	4
Hamilton	24	3	6
Inverness	7	4	1
Kilmarnock	2	1	1
Kirkcaldy	22	8	11
Oban	2	1	1
Stirling	4	0	2
Stranraer	1	0	1
Wick	1	0	1
South East	7696	4930	574
Ashford	556	349	38
Basildon	264	144	43
Bedford	200	133	17
Brighton	842	541	40
Cambridge	238	122	30
Chatham	466	355	23
Chelmsford	408	265	33
Eastbourne	98	64	8
Hastings	243	177	10
High Wycombe	321	192	32
Ipswich	411	283	22
Kings Lynn	181	91	13
Luton	363	229	16
Margate	257	162	20
Milton Keynes	212	119	27
Norwich	659	470	43
Oxford	311	216	27
Peterborough	307	165	33
Reading	361	224	21
Southend	95	33	21
Stevenage	163	94	14
Watford	740	502	43
South West	5916	3428	625
Unallocated ³	177	115	11
Aldershot	289	162	38
Barnstaple	80	36	8
Bristol	1167	724	122
Exeter	224	80	49
Gloucester	432	257	38
Havant	657	440	45
Newport IOW	222	153	13
Newton Abbot	246	126	29
Plymouth	384	193	55
Poole	441	249	49
Salisbury	46	10	10
Southampton	606	401	40
Swindon	320	218	23
Taunton	239	134	24
Truro	255	68	59
Worle	131	62	12
Wales	4181	2180	514
Aberystwyth	49	24	6
Caernarfon	101	23	15
Cardiff	1746	949	250
Carmarthen	72	15	19
Haverfordwest	105	39	16
Langstone, Newport	793	459	76
Llandrindod Wells	32	16	8
Llangefni	199	121	18
Port Talbot	305	112	35
Prestatyn	277	170	13
Swansea	194	75	25
Welshpool	52	31	8
Wrexham	256	146	25
SSCS Regional Centre Not Known	10	4	0
National	48623	27241	6558

Disability Living Allowance at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	592	426	73
East London	149	114	22
Enfield	2	2	0
Fox Court	264	180	36
Hatton Cross	20	14	3
Romford	54	41	4
Sutton	103	75	8
Midlands	597	394	91
Birmingham	164	84	39
Boston	10	9	0
Chesterfield	26	20	2
Coventry	46	35	4
Derby	40	32	5
Hereford	7	5	0
Kidderminster	11	8	1
Leicester	43	32	8
Lincoln	36	25	1
Northampton	26	19	4
Nottingham	63	41	10
Nuneaton	4	3	0
Shrewsbury	20	15	3
Stoke	30	23	4
Walsall	19	10	1
Wellingborough	10	9	1
Wolverhampton	34	17	8
Worcester	8	7	0
North East	489	326	68
Barnsley	15	9	2
Bedlington	9	7	0
Bradford	54	36	8
Darlington	29	20	4
Doncaster	14	5	2
Durham	20	15	4
Gateshead	3	1	1
Grimsby	12	5	4
Huddersfield	1	1	0
Hull	23	16	5
Leeds	30	8	12
Newcastle	16	7	5
North Shields	3	2	0
Scarborough	9	5	2
Sheffield	71	52	3
South Shields	19	11	4
Sunderland	40	29	3
Teesside	67	61	1
Wakefield	47	32	6
York	7	4	2
North West	535	372	87
Barrow	5	4	0
Birkenhead	32	19	7
Blackburn	26	17	6
Blackpool	19	10	2
Bolton	30	20	5
Burnley	14	11	2
Carlisle	9	3	4
Chester	20	14	4
Lancaster	6	6	0
Liverpool	70	45	12
Manchester	113	89	14
Preston	14	9	2
Rochdale	40	25	10
St Helens	42	27	9
Stockport	60	49	4
Wigan	31	21	6
Workington	4	3	0
Scotland	8	2	3
Ayr	2	1	0
Dundee	1	0	0
Edinburgh	2	0	2
Glasgow	1	0	0
Inverness	1	0	1
Kirkcaldy	1	1	0
South East	555	427	52
Ashford	33	24	3
Basildon	25	15	5
Bedford	20	16	1
Brighton	46	36	2
Cambridge	10	4	6
Chatham	47	41	4
Chelmsford	38	28	4
Eastbourne	4	3	0
Hastings	13	10	1
High Wycombe	27	18	5
Ipswich	30	23	2
Kings Lynn	12	10	2
Luton	27	26	0
Margate	15	14	1
Milton Keynes	14	8	3
Norwich	46	37	3
Oxford	23	18	1
Peterborough	19	14	3
Reading	26	23	0
Southend	8	4	3
Stevenage	12	8	1
Watford	60	47	2
South West	394	266	45
Unallocated ³	10	6	2
Aldershot	26	20	2
Barnstaple	3	1	0
Bristol	79	52	9
Exeter	13	4	3
Gloucester	27	15	4
Havant	48	33	6
Newport IOW	13	11	1
Newton Abbot	12	8	0
Plymouth	21	15	2
Poole	30	23	2
Salisbury	3	0	1
Southampton	36	26	5
Swindon	24	19	2
Taunton	21	17	2
Truro	16	9	4
Worle	12	7	0
Wales	247	148	35
Aberystwyth	3	3	0
Caernarfon	3	1	2
Cardiff	115	61	18
Carmarthen	1	0	1
Haverfordwest	4	0	3
Langstone, Newport	45	33	3
Llandrindod Wells	1	1	0
Llangefni	13	10	1
Port Talbot	15	9	2
Prestatyn	16	13	0
Swansea	9	3	4
Welshpool	1	0	0
Wrexham	21	14	1
SSCS Regional Centre Not Known	1	0	0
National	3418	2361	454

Employment and Support Allowance⁴at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	380	158	28
East London	116	59	4
Enfield	2	0	0
Fox Court	149	47	17
Hatton Cross	19	8	3
Romford	24	12	2
Sutton	70	32	2
Midlands	667	351	88
Birmingham	112	57	19
Boston	21	11	1
Chesterfield	33	14	7
Coventry	48	29	5
Derby	48	26	6
Hereford	9	4	2
Kidderminster	13	8	2
Leicester	69	44	7
Lincoln	17	8	1
Northampton	32	14	4
Nottingham	65	31	12
Nuneaton	7	2	0
Shrewsbury	38	21	7
Stoke	49	29	0
Walsall	25	13	4
Wellingborough	11	6	1
Wolverhampton	56	25	8
Worcester	14	9	2
North East	468	188	62
Barnsley	18	7	5
Bedlington	14	2	3
Bradford	41	17	3
Darlington	23	8	2
Doncaster	17	8	2
Durham	22	8	4
Gateshead	5	0	0
Grimsby	19	7	2
Hull	20	15	0
Leeds	20	7	1
Newcastle	25	9	3
North Shields	19	3	5
Scarborough	12	4	4
Sheffield	40	15	6
South Shields	27	8	1
Sunderland	38	20	3
Teesside	49	25	6
Wakefield	42	18	7
York	17	7	5
North West	323	82	72
Barrow	5	0	1
Birkenhead	9	1	2
Blackburn	13	3	3
Blackpool	13	1	4
Bolton	21	6	4
Burnley	7	0	3
Carlisle	9	1	1
Chester	25	5	6
Lancaster	7	3	0
Liverpool	38	16	7
Manchester	50	15	12
Preston	4	2	1
Rochdale	28	6	5
St Helens	21	1	2
Stockport	40	17	9
Wigan	24	4	9
Workington	9	1	3
Scotland	214	20	70
Aberdeen	13	0	3
Ayr	17	1	6
Campbeltown Centre	1	0	0
Dumfries (Cairndale)	9	0	7
Dundee	12	0	3
Dunfermline	5	0	1
Edinburgh	27	1	15
Galashiels	6	2	1
Glasgow	50	6	18
Greenock	12	3	0
Hamilton	19	3	3
Inverness	14	0	6
Kilmarnock	2	0	1
Kirkcaldy	8	2	2
Lerwick	2	0	0
Stirling	17	2	4
South East	420	209	48
Ashford	20	10	1
Basildon	16	7	2
Bedford	13	7	1
Brighton	39	20	6
Cambridge	11	5	1
Chatham	16	8	3
Chelmsford	37	18	3
Eastbourne	2	2	0
Hastings	9	3	4
High Wycombe	19	8	1
Ipswich	25	14	1
Kings Lynn	15	7	3
Luton	22	13	1
Margate	4	1	0
Milton Keynes	9	5	1
Norwich	36	17	5
Oxford	21	13	3
Peterborough	32	12	3
Reading	34	19	4
Southend	2	2	0
Stevenage	9	6	1
Watford	29	12	4
South West	490	295	15
Unallocated ³	14	8	3
Aldershot	31	24	0
Barnstaple	6	4	0
Bristol	80	42	4
Exeter	12	5	1
Gloucester	35	21	0
Havant	65	43	1
Newport IOW	27	21	2
Newton Abbot	26	15	0
Plymouth	31	19	0
Poole	32	25	1
Salisbury	7	3	0
Southampton	49	26	1
Swindon	17	8	2
Taunton	22	12	0
Truro	21	12	0
Worle	15	7	0
Wales	434	278	13
Aberystwyth	10	5	3
Caernarfon	10	6	1
Cardiff	155	108	3
Carmarthen	10	6	0
Haverfordwest	13	8	0
Langstone, Newport	88	55	1
Llandrindod Wells	1	1	0
Llangefni	23	15	0
Port Talbot	37	26	0
Prestatyn	24	14	2
Swansea	27	11	0
Welshpool	13	6	3
Wrexham	23	17	0
SSCS Regional Centre Not Known	3	0	2
National	3399	1581	398

Universal Credit⁵at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	2659	1361	215
East London	566	294	57
Enfield	8	2	1
Fox Court	1468	754	94
Hatton Cross	102	40	13
Romford	169	85	34
Sutton	346	186	16
Midlands	2602	1489	406
Birmingham	713	381	142
Boston	51	34	7
Chesterfield	62	34	11
Coventry	202	125	14
Derby	159	87	31
Hereford	21	16	0
Kidderminster	20	15	2
Leicester	265	160	29
Lincoln	123	74	19
Northampton	126	82	16
Nottingham	253	148	50
Nuneaton	11	7	0
Shrewsbury	78	45	7
Stoke	99	55	9
Walsall	116	64	15
Wellingborough	43	29	6
Wolverhampton	218	109	44
Worcester	42	24	4
North East	2007	1012	385
Barnsley	55	26	13
Bedlington	46	20	15
Berwick	5	3	0
Bradford	208	118	30
Darlington	70	26	19
Doncaster	84	31	18
Durham	40	17	7
Gateshead	24	11	10
Grimsby	69	41	11
Huddersfield	3	0	0
Hull	108	62	16
Leeds	173	68	30
Newcastle	229	109	48
North Shields	45	16	9
Scarborough	49	24	15
Sheffield	160	67	40
South Shields	71	40	13
Sunderland	124	79	12
Teesside	227	137	37
Wakefield	170	88	32
York	47	29	10
North West	1512	572	308
Barrow	12	6	1
Birkenhead	34	15	5
Blackburn	33	15	2
Blackpool	54	13	10
Bolton	107	32	24
Burnley	65	29	8
Carlisle	29	14	4
Chester	61	17	6
Lancaster	27	13	3
Liverpool	179	49	34
Manchester	467	226	112
Preston	35	7	8
Rochdale	91	23	17
St Helens	79	34	13
Stockport	141	45	43
Wigan	85	29	17
Workington	13	5	1
Scotland	658	187	219
Aberdeen	33	8	15
Ayr	40	12	13
Dumfries (Cairndale)	13	1	5
Dundee	44	10	13
Dunfermline	14	3	2
Edinburgh	120	31	40
Galashiels	14	6	3
Glasgow	206	64	71
Greenock	25	6	10
Hamilton	59	17	19
Inverness	22	3	9
Kilmarnock	2	0	0
Kirkcaldy	22	9	4
Kirkwall	1	0	1
Lerwick	1	0	1
Lewis	2	0	1
Oban	4	1	2
Stirling	29	13	9
Stranraer	3	2	0
Wick	4	1	1
South East	2002	1053	321
Ashford	117	47	28
Basildon	70	24	19
Bedford	48	30	6
Brighton	173	76	35
Cambridge	68	33	11
Chatham	70	27	21
Chelmsford	107	62	11
Eastbourne	26	15	3
Hastings	43	27	8
High Wycombe	125	70	14
Ipswich	89	54	8
Kings Lynn	36	18	12
Luton	110	65	16
Margate	39	18	8
Milton Keynes	48	27	6
Norwich	145	86	22
Oxford	111	66	13
Peterborough	91	45	14
Reading	141	73	21
Southend	65	37	16
Stevenage	45	27	2
Watford	235	126	27
South West	1744	1121	65
Unallocated ³	43	26	2
Aldershot	120	74	5
Barnstaple	24	15	0
Bristol	342	219	11
Exeter	59	32	0
Gloucester	136	99	7
Havant	187	133	5
Newport IOW	49	35	4
Newton Abbot	61	34	4
Plymouth	84	52	0
Poole	159	96	9
Salisbury	15	6	1
Southampton	162	106	5
Swindon	108	71	5
Taunton	71	42	0
Truro	87	58	3
Worle	37	23	4
Wales	1019	712	62
Aberystwyth	16	8	1
Caernarfon	53	32	6
Cardiff	389	277	18
Carmarthen	20	14	0
Haverfordwest	28	19	1
Langstone, Newport	179	133	9
Llandrindod Wells	3	3	0
Llangefni	27	20	1
Port Talbot	91	68	3
Prestatyn	74	46	9
Swansea	58	43	3
Welshpool	14	8	3
Wrexham	67	41	8
National	14203	7507	1981

1. Personal Independence Payment (New Claim Appeals) which replaces Disability Living Allowance was introduced on 8 April 2013, also includes Personal Independence Clams (Reassessments)

2. Data pulled 23/4/2024

3. Unallocated relates to appeals that have not yet been allocated to a venue.

5. Universal Credit was introduced on 29 April 2013 in selected areas of Greater Manchester and Cheshire, and has been gradually rolled out to the rest of the UK from October 2013.

Written Question

Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals

Thursday 25th April 2024

Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals relating to Employment Support Allowance claims are awaiting a hearing (a) nationally, (b) by region, (c) by Tribunal Office and (d) by hearing venue; what the average length of time between such appeals being (i) lodged and (ii) heard is (A) nationally, (B) by region, (C) by Tribunal Office and (D) by hearing venue; and in how many cases the length of time waited has exceeded this average (1) nationally, (2) by region, (3) by Tribunal Office and (4) by hearing venue as of 22 April 2024.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Information about the average length of time between appeals being lodged and heard; and in how many case the length of time waited has exceeded this average is not held centrally.

Personal Independence Payment¹ at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	6804	3861	980
Bexleyheath	1	1	0
East London	1543	905	234
Enfield	27	11	3
Fox Court	3318	1846	483
Hatton Cross	243	98	72
Romford	512	353	67
Sutton	1160	647	121
Midlands	9330	5052	1369
Birmingham	1984	1007	354
Boston	202	134	25
Chesterfield	457	255	57
Coventry	698	442	71
Derby	701	417	91
Hereford	101	43	20
Kidderminster	144	60	30
Leicester	813	415	108
Lincoln	427	258	46
Northampton	488	328	56
Nottingham	1135	610	168
Nuneaton	99	58	13
Shrewsbury	333	185	46
Stoke	427	228	63
Walsall	316	136	66
Wellingborough	196	114	22
Wolverhampton	637	262	110
Worcester	172	100	23
North East	7061	3468	1316
Barnsley	193	71	38
Bedlington	159	66	44
Berwick	14	6	3
Bradford	691	334	131
Darlington	356	195	49
Doncaster	316	142	51
Durham	333	169	77
Gateshead	78	33	21
Grimsby	186	80	37
Huddersfield	32	10	8
Hull	342	181	65
Leeds	514	165	132
Newcastle	332	122	80
North Shields	134	34	46
Scarborough	158	75	29
Sheffield	737	381	119
South Shields	233	112	53
Sunderland	545	349	53
Teesside	871	581	85
Wakefield	687	322	138
York	150	40	57
North West	7362	4250	1066
Barrow	84	53	10
Birkenhead	355	223	43
Blackburn	311	180	58
Blackpool	355	189	69
Bolton	414	231	69
Burnley	263	151	31
Carlisle	165	86	32
Chester	500	315	65
Lancaster	105	66	1
Liverpool	1023	495	155
Manchester	1319	821	164
Preston	248	123	58
Rochdale	436	216	90
St Helens	512	301	73
Stockport	699	451	68
Wigan	427	267	49
Workington	146	82	31
Scotland	263	68	114
Aberdeen	3	1	1
Ayr	11	1	4
Dumfries (Cairndale)	3	1	1
Dundee	6	0	2
Dunfermline	7	3	3
Edinburgh	70	19	36
Galashiels	6	1	3
Glasgow	89	24	36
Greenock	5	1	4
Hamilton	24	3	6
Inverness	7	4	1
Kilmarnock	2	1	1
Kirkcaldy	22	8	11
Oban	2	1	1
Stirling	4	0	2
Stranraer	1	0	1
Wick	1	0	1
South East	7696	4930	574
Ashford	556	349	38
Basildon	264	144	43
Bedford	200	133	17
Brighton	842	541	40
Cambridge	238	122	30
Chatham	466	355	23
Chelmsford	408	265	33
Eastbourne	98	64	8
Hastings	243	177	10
High Wycombe	321	192	32
Ipswich	411	283	22
Kings Lynn	181	91	13
Luton	363	229	16
Margate	257	162	20
Milton Keynes	212	119	27
Norwich	659	470	43
Oxford	311	216	27
Peterborough	307	165	33
Reading	361	224	21
Southend	95	33	21
Stevenage	163	94	14
Watford	740	502	43
South West	5916	3428	625
Unallocated ³	177	115	11
Aldershot	289	162	38
Barnstaple	80	36	8
Bristol	1167	724	122
Exeter	224	80	49
Gloucester	432	257	38
Havant	657	440	45
Newport IOW	222	153	13
Newton Abbot	246	126	29
Plymouth	384	193	55
Poole	441	249	49
Salisbury	46	10	10
Southampton	606	401	40
Swindon	320	218	23
Taunton	239	134	24
Truro	255	68	59
Worle	131	62	12
Wales	4181	2180	514
Aberystwyth	49	24	6
Caernarfon	101	23	15
Cardiff	1746	949	250
Carmarthen	72	15	19
Haverfordwest	105	39	16
Langstone, Newport	793	459	76
Llandrindod Wells	32	16	8
Llangefni	199	121	18
Port Talbot	305	112	35
Prestatyn	277	170	13
Swansea	194	75	25
Welshpool	52	31	8
Wrexham	256	146	25
SSCS Regional Centre Not Known	10	4	0
National	48623	27241	6558

Disability Living Allowance at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	592	426	73
East London	149	114	22
Enfield	2	2	0
Fox Court	264	180	36
Hatton Cross	20	14	3
Romford	54	41	4
Sutton	103	75	8
Midlands	597	394	91
Birmingham	164	84	39
Boston	10	9	0
Chesterfield	26	20	2
Coventry	46	35	4
Derby	40	32	5
Hereford	7	5	0
Kidderminster	11	8	1
Leicester	43	32	8
Lincoln	36	25	1
Northampton	26	19	4
Nottingham	63	41	10
Nuneaton	4	3	0
Shrewsbury	20	15	3
Stoke	30	23	4
Walsall	19	10	1
Wellingborough	10	9	1
Wolverhampton	34	17	8
Worcester	8	7	0
North East	489	326	68
Barnsley	15	9	2
Bedlington	9	7	0
Bradford	54	36	8
Darlington	29	20	4
Doncaster	14	5	2
Durham	20	15	4
Gateshead	3	1	1
Grimsby	12	5	4
Huddersfield	1	1	0
Hull	23	16	5
Leeds	30	8	12
Newcastle	16	7	5
North Shields	3	2	0
Scarborough	9	5	2
Sheffield	71	52	3
South Shields	19	11	4
Sunderland	40	29	3
Teesside	67	61	1
Wakefield	47	32	6
York	7	4	2
North West	535	372	87
Barrow	5	4	0
Birkenhead	32	19	7
Blackburn	26	17	6
Blackpool	19	10	2
Bolton	30	20	5
Burnley	14	11	2
Carlisle	9	3	4
Chester	20	14	4
Lancaster	6	6	0
Liverpool	70	45	12
Manchester	113	89	14
Preston	14	9	2
Rochdale	40	25	10
St Helens	42	27	9
Stockport	60	49	4
Wigan	31	21	6
Workington	4	3	0
Scotland	8	2	3
Ayr	2	1	0
Dundee	1	0	0
Edinburgh	2	0	2
Glasgow	1	0	0
Inverness	1	0	1
Kirkcaldy	1	1	0
South East	555	427	52
Ashford	33	24	3
Basildon	25	15	5
Bedford	20	16	1
Brighton	46	36	2
Cambridge	10	4	6
Chatham	47	41	4
Chelmsford	38	28	4
Eastbourne	4	3	0
Hastings	13	10	1
High Wycombe	27	18	5
Ipswich	30	23	2
Kings Lynn	12	10	2
Luton	27	26	0
Margate	15	14	1
Milton Keynes	14	8	3
Norwich	46	37	3
Oxford	23	18	1
Peterborough	19	14	3
Reading	26	23	0
Southend	8	4	3
Stevenage	12	8	1
Watford	60	47	2
South West	394	266	45
Unallocated ³	10	6	2
Aldershot	26	20	2
Barnstaple	3	1	0
Bristol	79	52	9
Exeter	13	4	3
Gloucester	27	15	4
Havant	48	33	6
Newport IOW	13	11	1
Newton Abbot	12	8	0
Plymouth	21	15	2
Poole	30	23	2
Salisbury	3	0	1
Southampton	36	26	5
Swindon	24	19	2
Taunton	21	17	2
Truro	16	9	4
Worle	12	7	0
Wales	247	148	35
Aberystwyth	3	3	0
Caernarfon	3	1	2
Cardiff	115	61	18
Carmarthen	1	0	1
Haverfordwest	4	0	3
Langstone, Newport	45	33	3
Llandrindod Wells	1	1	0
Llangefni	13	10	1
Port Talbot	15	9	2
Prestatyn	16	13	0
Swansea	9	3	4
Welshpool	1	0	0
Wrexham	21	14	1
SSCS Regional Centre Not Known	1	0	0
National	3418	2361	454

Employment and Support Allowance⁴at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	380	158	28
East London	116	59	4
Enfield	2	0	0
Fox Court	149	47	17
Hatton Cross	19	8	3
Romford	24	12	2
Sutton	70	32	2
Midlands	667	351	88
Birmingham	112	57	19
Boston	21	11	1
Chesterfield	33	14	7
Coventry	48	29	5
Derby	48	26	6
Hereford	9	4	2
Kidderminster	13	8	2
Leicester	69	44	7
Lincoln	17	8	1
Northampton	32	14	4
Nottingham	65	31	12
Nuneaton	7	2	0
Shrewsbury	38	21	7
Stoke	49	29	0
Walsall	25	13	4
Wellingborough	11	6	1
Wolverhampton	56	25	8
Worcester	14	9	2
North East	468	188	62
Barnsley	18	7	5
Bedlington	14	2	3
Bradford	41	17	3
Darlington	23	8	2
Doncaster	17	8	2
Durham	22	8	4
Gateshead	5	0	0
Grimsby	19	7	2
Hull	20	15	0
Leeds	20	7	1
Newcastle	25	9	3
North Shields	19	3	5
Scarborough	12	4	4
Sheffield	40	15	6
South Shields	27	8	1
Sunderland	38	20	3
Teesside	49	25	6
Wakefield	42	18	7
York	17	7	5
North West	323	82	72
Barrow	5	0	1
Birkenhead	9	1	2
Blackburn	13	3	3
Blackpool	13	1	4
Bolton	21	6	4
Burnley	7	0	3
Carlisle	9	1	1
Chester	25	5	6
Lancaster	7	3	0
Liverpool	38	16	7
Manchester	50	15	12
Preston	4	2	1
Rochdale	28	6	5
St Helens	21	1	2
Stockport	40	17	9
Wigan	24	4	9
Workington	9	1	3
Scotland	214	20	70
Aberdeen	13	0	3
Ayr	17	1	6
Campbeltown Centre	1	0	0
Dumfries (Cairndale)	9	0	7
Dundee	12	0	3
Dunfermline	5	0	1
Edinburgh	27	1	15
Galashiels	6	2	1
Glasgow	50	6	18
Greenock	12	3	0
Hamilton	19	3	3
Inverness	14	0	6
Kilmarnock	2	0	1
Kirkcaldy	8	2	2
Lerwick	2	0	0
Stirling	17	2	4
South East	420	209	48
Ashford	20	10	1
Basildon	16	7	2
Bedford	13	7	1
Brighton	39	20	6
Cambridge	11	5	1
Chatham	16	8	3
Chelmsford	37	18	3
Eastbourne	2	2	0
Hastings	9	3	4
High Wycombe	19	8	1
Ipswich	25	14	1
Kings Lynn	15	7	3
Luton	22	13	1
Margate	4	1	0
Milton Keynes	9	5	1
Norwich	36	17	5
Oxford	21	13	3
Peterborough	32	12	3
Reading	34	19	4
Southend	2	2	0
Stevenage	9	6	1
Watford	29	12	4
South West	490	295	15
Unallocated ³	14	8	3
Aldershot	31	24	0
Barnstaple	6	4	0
Bristol	80	42	4
Exeter	12	5	1
Gloucester	35	21	0
Havant	65	43	1
Newport IOW	27	21	2
Newton Abbot	26	15	0
Plymouth	31	19	0
Poole	32	25	1
Salisbury	7	3	0
Southampton	49	26	1
Swindon	17	8	2
Taunton	22	12	0
Truro	21	12	0
Worle	15	7	0
Wales	434	278	13
Aberystwyth	10	5	3
Caernarfon	10	6	1
Cardiff	155	108	3
Carmarthen	10	6	0
Haverfordwest	13	8	0
Langstone, Newport	88	55	1
Llandrindod Wells	1	1	0
Llangefni	23	15	0
Port Talbot	37	26	0
Prestatyn	24	14	2
Swansea	27	11	0
Welshpool	13	6	3
Wrexham	23	17	0
SSCS Regional Centre Not Known	3	0	2
National	3399	1581	398

Universal Credit⁵at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	2659	1361	215
East London	566	294	57
Enfield	8	2	1
Fox Court	1468	754	94
Hatton Cross	102	40	13
Romford	169	85	34
Sutton	346	186	16
Midlands	2602	1489	406
Birmingham	713	381	142
Boston	51	34	7
Chesterfield	62	34	11
Coventry	202	125	14
Derby	159	87	31
Hereford	21	16	0
Kidderminster	20	15	2
Leicester	265	160	29
Lincoln	123	74	19
Northampton	126	82	16
Nottingham	253	148	50
Nuneaton	11	7	0
Shrewsbury	78	45	7
Stoke	99	55	9
Walsall	116	64	15
Wellingborough	43	29	6
Wolverhampton	218	109	44
Worcester	42	24	4
North East	2007	1012	385
Barnsley	55	26	13
Bedlington	46	20	15
Berwick	5	3	0
Bradford	208	118	30
Darlington	70	26	19
Doncaster	84	31	18
Durham	40	17	7
Gateshead	24	11	10
Grimsby	69	41	11
Huddersfield	3	0	0
Hull	108	62	16
Leeds	173	68	30
Newcastle	229	109	48
North Shields	45	16	9
Scarborough	49	24	15
Sheffield	160	67	40
South Shields	71	40	13
Sunderland	124	79	12
Teesside	227	137	37
Wakefield	170	88	32
York	47	29	10
North West	1512	572	308
Barrow	12	6	1
Birkenhead	34	15	5
Blackburn	33	15	2
Blackpool	54	13	10
Bolton	107	32	24
Burnley	65	29	8
Carlisle	29	14	4
Chester	61	17	6
Lancaster	27	13	3
Liverpool	179	49	34
Manchester	467	226	112
Preston	35	7	8
Rochdale	91	23	17
St Helens	79	34	13
Stockport	141	45	43
Wigan	85	29	17
Workington	13	5	1
Scotland	658	187	219
Aberdeen	33	8	15
Ayr	40	12	13
Dumfries (Cairndale)	13	1	5
Dundee	44	10	13
Dunfermline	14	3	2
Edinburgh	120	31	40
Galashiels	14	6	3
Glasgow	206	64	71
Greenock	25	6	10
Hamilton	59	17	19
Inverness	22	3	9
Kilmarnock	2	0	0
Kirkcaldy	22	9	4
Kirkwall	1	0	1
Lerwick	1	0	1
Lewis	2	0	1
Oban	4	1	2
Stirling	29	13	9
Stranraer	3	2	0
Wick	4	1	1
South East	2002	1053	321
Ashford	117	47	28
Basildon	70	24	19
Bedford	48	30	6
Brighton	173	76	35
Cambridge	68	33	11
Chatham	70	27	21
Chelmsford	107	62	11
Eastbourne	26	15	3
Hastings	43	27	8
High Wycombe	125	70	14
Ipswich	89	54	8
Kings Lynn	36	18	12
Luton	110	65	16
Margate	39	18	8
Milton Keynes	48	27	6
Norwich	145	86	22
Oxford	111	66	13
Peterborough	91	45	14
Reading	141	73	21
Southend	65	37	16
Stevenage	45	27	2
Watford	235	126	27
South West	1744	1121	65
Unallocated ³	43	26	2
Aldershot	120	74	5
Barnstaple	24	15	0
Bristol	342	219	11
Exeter	59	32	0
Gloucester	136	99	7
Havant	187	133	5
Newport IOW	49	35	4
Newton Abbot	61	34	4
Plymouth	84	52	0
Poole	159	96	9
Salisbury	15	6	1
Southampton	162	106	5
Swindon	108	71	5
Taunton	71	42	0
Truro	87	58	3
Worle	37	23	4
Wales	1019	712	62
Aberystwyth	16	8	1
Caernarfon	53	32	6
Cardiff	389	277	18
Carmarthen	20	14	0
Haverfordwest	28	19	1
Langstone, Newport	179	133	9
Llandrindod Wells	3	3	0
Llangefni	27	20	1
Port Talbot	91	68	3
Prestatyn	74	46	9
Swansea	58	43	3
Welshpool	14	8	3
Wrexham	67	41	8
National	14203	7507	1981

1. Personal Independence Payment (New Claim Appeals) which replaces Disability Living Allowance was introduced on 8 April 2013, also includes Personal Independence Clams (Reassessments)

2. Data pulled 23/4/2024

3. Unallocated relates to appeals that have not yet been allocated to a venue.

5. Universal Credit was introduced on 29 April 2013 in selected areas of Greater Manchester and Cheshire, and has been gradually rolled out to the rest of the UK from October 2013.

Written Question

Disability Living Allowance: Appeals

Thursday 25th April 2024

Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many appeals relating to Disability Living Allowance claims are awaiting a hearing (a) nationally, (b) by region, (c) by Tribunal Office and (d) by hearing venue; what the average length of time between such appeals being (i) lodged and (ii) heard is (A) nationally, (B) by region, (C) by Tribunal Office and (D) by hearing venue; and in how many cases the length of time waited has exceeded this average (1) nationally, (2) by region, (3) by Tribunal Office and (4) by hearing venue as of 22 April 2024.

Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)

Information about the average length of time between appeals being lodged and heard; and in how many case the length of time waited has exceeded this average is not held centrally.

Personal Independence Payment¹ at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	6804	3861	980
Bexleyheath	1	1	0
East London	1543	905	234
Enfield	27	11	3
Fox Court	3318	1846	483
Hatton Cross	243	98	72
Romford	512	353	67
Sutton	1160	647	121
Midlands	9330	5052	1369
Birmingham	1984	1007	354
Boston	202	134	25
Chesterfield	457	255	57
Coventry	698	442	71
Derby	701	417	91
Hereford	101	43	20
Kidderminster	144	60	30
Leicester	813	415	108
Lincoln	427	258	46
Northampton	488	328	56
Nottingham	1135	610	168
Nuneaton	99	58	13
Shrewsbury	333	185	46
Stoke	427	228	63
Walsall	316	136	66
Wellingborough	196	114	22
Wolverhampton	637	262	110
Worcester	172	100	23
North East	7061	3468	1316
Barnsley	193	71	38
Bedlington	159	66	44
Berwick	14	6	3
Bradford	691	334	131
Darlington	356	195	49
Doncaster	316	142	51
Durham	333	169	77
Gateshead	78	33	21
Grimsby	186	80	37
Huddersfield	32	10	8
Hull	342	181	65
Leeds	514	165	132
Newcastle	332	122	80
North Shields	134	34	46
Scarborough	158	75	29
Sheffield	737	381	119
South Shields	233	112	53
Sunderland	545	349	53
Teesside	871	581	85
Wakefield	687	322	138
York	150	40	57
North West	7362	4250	1066
Barrow	84	53	10
Birkenhead	355	223	43
Blackburn	311	180	58
Blackpool	355	189	69
Bolton	414	231	69
Burnley	263	151	31
Carlisle	165	86	32
Chester	500	315	65
Lancaster	105	66	1
Liverpool	1023	495	155
Manchester	1319	821	164
Preston	248	123	58
Rochdale	436	216	90
St Helens	512	301	73
Stockport	699	451	68
Wigan	427	267	49
Workington	146	82	31
Scotland	263	68	114
Aberdeen	3	1	1
Ayr	11	1	4
Dumfries (Cairndale)	3	1	1
Dundee	6	0	2
Dunfermline	7	3	3
Edinburgh	70	19	36
Galashiels	6	1	3
Glasgow	89	24	36
Greenock	5	1	4
Hamilton	24	3	6
Inverness	7	4	1
Kilmarnock	2	1	1
Kirkcaldy	22	8	11
Oban	2	1	1
Stirling	4	0	2
Stranraer	1	0	1
Wick	1	0	1
South East	7696	4930	574
Ashford	556	349	38
Basildon	264	144	43
Bedford	200	133	17
Brighton	842	541	40
Cambridge	238	122	30
Chatham	466	355	23
Chelmsford	408	265	33
Eastbourne	98	64	8
Hastings	243	177	10
High Wycombe	321	192	32
Ipswich	411	283	22
Kings Lynn	181	91	13
Luton	363	229	16
Margate	257	162	20
Milton Keynes	212	119	27
Norwich	659	470	43
Oxford	311	216	27
Peterborough	307	165	33
Reading	361	224	21
Southend	95	33	21
Stevenage	163	94	14
Watford	740	502	43
South West	5916	3428	625
Unallocated ³	177	115	11
Aldershot	289	162	38
Barnstaple	80	36	8
Bristol	1167	724	122
Exeter	224	80	49
Gloucester	432	257	38
Havant	657	440	45
Newport IOW	222	153	13
Newton Abbot	246	126	29
Plymouth	384	193	55
Poole	441	249	49
Salisbury	46	10	10
Southampton	606	401	40
Swindon	320	218	23
Taunton	239	134	24
Truro	255	68	59
Worle	131	62	12
Wales	4181	2180	514
Aberystwyth	49	24	6
Caernarfon	101	23	15
Cardiff	1746	949	250
Carmarthen	72	15	19
Haverfordwest	105	39	16
Langstone, Newport	793	459	76
Llandrindod Wells	32	16	8
Llangefni	199	121	18
Port Talbot	305	112	35
Prestatyn	277	170	13
Swansea	194	75	25
Welshpool	52	31	8
Wrexham	256	146	25
SSCS Regional Centre Not Known	10	4	0
National	48623	27241	6558

Disability Living Allowance at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	592	426	73
East London	149	114	22
Enfield	2	2	0
Fox Court	264	180	36
Hatton Cross	20	14	3
Romford	54	41	4
Sutton	103	75	8
Midlands	597	394	91
Birmingham	164	84	39
Boston	10	9	0
Chesterfield	26	20	2
Coventry	46	35	4
Derby	40	32	5
Hereford	7	5	0
Kidderminster	11	8	1
Leicester	43	32	8
Lincoln	36	25	1
Northampton	26	19	4
Nottingham	63	41	10
Nuneaton	4	3	0
Shrewsbury	20	15	3
Stoke	30	23	4
Walsall	19	10	1
Wellingborough	10	9	1
Wolverhampton	34	17	8
Worcester	8	7	0
North East	489	326	68
Barnsley	15	9	2
Bedlington	9	7	0
Bradford	54	36	8
Darlington	29	20	4
Doncaster	14	5	2
Durham	20	15	4
Gateshead	3	1	1
Grimsby	12	5	4
Huddersfield	1	1	0
Hull	23	16	5
Leeds	30	8	12
Newcastle	16	7	5
North Shields	3	2	0
Scarborough	9	5	2
Sheffield	71	52	3
South Shields	19	11	4
Sunderland	40	29	3
Teesside	67	61	1
Wakefield	47	32	6
York	7	4	2
North West	535	372	87
Barrow	5	4	0
Birkenhead	32	19	7
Blackburn	26	17	6
Blackpool	19	10	2
Bolton	30	20	5
Burnley	14	11	2
Carlisle	9	3	4
Chester	20	14	4
Lancaster	6	6	0
Liverpool	70	45	12
Manchester	113	89	14
Preston	14	9	2
Rochdale	40	25	10
St Helens	42	27	9
Stockport	60	49	4
Wigan	31	21	6
Workington	4	3	0
Scotland	8	2	3
Ayr	2	1	0
Dundee	1	0	0
Edinburgh	2	0	2
Glasgow	1	0	0
Inverness	1	0	1
Kirkcaldy	1	1	0
South East	555	427	52
Ashford	33	24	3
Basildon	25	15	5
Bedford	20	16	1
Brighton	46	36	2
Cambridge	10	4	6
Chatham	47	41	4
Chelmsford	38	28	4
Eastbourne	4	3	0
Hastings	13	10	1
High Wycombe	27	18	5
Ipswich	30	23	2
Kings Lynn	12	10	2
Luton	27	26	0
Margate	15	14	1
Milton Keynes	14	8	3
Norwich	46	37	3
Oxford	23	18	1
Peterborough	19	14	3
Reading	26	23	0
Southend	8	4	3
Stevenage	12	8	1
Watford	60	47	2
South West	394	266	45
Unallocated ³	10	6	2
Aldershot	26	20	2
Barnstaple	3	1	0
Bristol	79	52	9
Exeter	13	4	3
Gloucester	27	15	4
Havant	48	33	6
Newport IOW	13	11	1
Newton Abbot	12	8	0
Plymouth	21	15	2
Poole	30	23	2
Salisbury	3	0	1
Southampton	36	26	5
Swindon	24	19	2
Taunton	21	17	2
Truro	16	9	4
Worle	12	7	0
Wales	247	148	35
Aberystwyth	3	3	0
Caernarfon	3	1	2
Cardiff	115	61	18
Carmarthen	1	0	1
Haverfordwest	4	0	3
Langstone, Newport	45	33	3
Llandrindod Wells	1	1	0
Llangefni	13	10	1
Port Talbot	15	9	2
Prestatyn	16	13	0
Swansea	9	3	4
Welshpool	1	0	0
Wrexham	21	14	1
SSCS Regional Centre Not Known	1	0	0
National	3418	2361	454

Employment and Support Allowance⁴at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	380	158	28
East London	116	59	4
Enfield	2	0	0
Fox Court	149	47	17
Hatton Cross	19	8	3
Romford	24	12	2
Sutton	70	32	2
Midlands	667	351	88
Birmingham	112	57	19
Boston	21	11	1
Chesterfield	33	14	7
Coventry	48	29	5
Derby	48	26	6
Hereford	9	4	2
Kidderminster	13	8	2
Leicester	69	44	7
Lincoln	17	8	1
Northampton	32	14	4
Nottingham	65	31	12
Nuneaton	7	2	0
Shrewsbury	38	21	7
Stoke	49	29	0
Walsall	25	13	4
Wellingborough	11	6	1
Wolverhampton	56	25	8
Worcester	14	9	2
North East	468	188	62
Barnsley	18	7	5
Bedlington	14	2	3
Bradford	41	17	3
Darlington	23	8	2
Doncaster	17	8	2
Durham	22	8	4
Gateshead	5	0	0
Grimsby	19	7	2
Hull	20	15	0
Leeds	20	7	1
Newcastle	25	9	3
North Shields	19	3	5
Scarborough	12	4	4
Sheffield	40	15	6
South Shields	27	8	1
Sunderland	38	20	3
Teesside	49	25	6
Wakefield	42	18	7
York	17	7	5
North West	323	82	72
Barrow	5	0	1
Birkenhead	9	1	2
Blackburn	13	3	3
Blackpool	13	1	4
Bolton	21	6	4
Burnley	7	0	3
Carlisle	9	1	1
Chester	25	5	6
Lancaster	7	3	0
Liverpool	38	16	7
Manchester	50	15	12
Preston	4	2	1
Rochdale	28	6	5
St Helens	21	1	2
Stockport	40	17	9
Wigan	24	4	9
Workington	9	1	3
Scotland	214	20	70
Aberdeen	13	0	3
Ayr	17	1	6
Campbeltown Centre	1	0	0
Dumfries (Cairndale)	9	0	7
Dundee	12	0	3
Dunfermline	5	0	1
Edinburgh	27	1	15
Galashiels	6	2	1
Glasgow	50	6	18
Greenock	12	3	0
Hamilton	19	3	3
Inverness	14	0	6
Kilmarnock	2	0	1
Kirkcaldy	8	2	2
Lerwick	2	0	0
Stirling	17	2	4
South East	420	209	48
Ashford	20	10	1
Basildon	16	7	2
Bedford	13	7	1
Brighton	39	20	6
Cambridge	11	5	1
Chatham	16	8	3
Chelmsford	37	18	3
Eastbourne	2	2	0
Hastings	9	3	4
High Wycombe	19	8	1
Ipswich	25	14	1
Kings Lynn	15	7	3
Luton	22	13	1
Margate	4	1	0
Milton Keynes	9	5	1
Norwich	36	17	5
Oxford	21	13	3
Peterborough	32	12	3
Reading	34	19	4
Southend	2	2	0
Stevenage	9	6	1
Watford	29	12	4
South West	490	295	15
Unallocated ³	14	8	3
Aldershot	31	24	0
Barnstaple	6	4	0
Bristol	80	42	4
Exeter	12	5	1
Gloucester	35	21	0
Havant	65	43	1
Newport IOW	27	21	2
Newton Abbot	26	15	0
Plymouth	31	19	0
Poole	32	25	1
Salisbury	7	3	0
Southampton	49	26	1
Swindon	17	8	2
Taunton	22	12	0
Truro	21	12	0
Worle	15	7	0
Wales	434	278	13
Aberystwyth	10	5	3
Caernarfon	10	6	1
Cardiff	155	108	3
Carmarthen	10	6	0
Haverfordwest	13	8	0
Langstone, Newport	88	55	1
Llandrindod Wells	1	1	0
Llangefni	23	15	0
Port Talbot	37	26	0
Prestatyn	24	14	2
Swansea	27	11	0
Welshpool	13	6	3
Wrexham	23	17	0
SSCS Regional Centre Not Known	3	0	2
National	3399	1581	398

Universal Credit⁵at December 23²
Region / Venue	Total Open Caseload	Ready To List	Listed For Hearing
London	2659	1361	215
East London	566	294	57
Enfield	8	2	1
Fox Court	1468	754	94
Hatton Cross	102	40	13
Romford	169	85	34
Sutton	346	186	16
Midlands	2602	1489	406
Birmingham	713	381	142
Boston	51	34	7
Chesterfield	62	34	11
Coventry	202	125	14
Derby	159	87	31
Hereford	21	16	0
Kidderminster	20	15	2
Leicester	265	160	29
Lincoln	123	74	19
Northampton	126	82	16
Nottingham	253	148	50
Nuneaton	11	7	0
Shrewsbury	78	45	7
Stoke	99	55	9
Walsall	116	64	15
Wellingborough	43	29	6
Wolverhampton	218	109	44
Worcester	42	24	4
North East	2007	1012	385
Barnsley	55	26	13
Bedlington	46	20	15
Berwick	5	3	0
Bradford	208	118	30
Darlington	70	26	19
Doncaster	84	31	18
Durham	40	17	7
Gateshead	24	11	10
Grimsby	69	41	11
Huddersfield	3	0	0
Hull	108	62	16
Leeds	173	68	30
Newcastle	229	109	48
North Shields	45	16	9
Scarborough	49	24	15
Sheffield	160	67	40
South Shields	71	40	13
Sunderland	124	79	12
Teesside	227	137	37
Wakefield	170	88	32
York	47	29	10
North West	1512	572	308
Barrow	12	6	1
Birkenhead	34	15	5
Blackburn	33	15	2
Blackpool	54	13	10
Bolton	107	32	24
Burnley	65	29	8
Carlisle	29	14	4
Chester	61	17	6
Lancaster	27	13	3
Liverpool	179	49	34
Manchester	467	226	112
Preston	35	7	8
Rochdale	91	23	17
St Helens	79	34	13
Stockport	141	45	43
Wigan	85	29	17
Workington	13	5	1
Scotland	658	187	219
Aberdeen	33	8	15
Ayr	40	12	13
Dumfries (Cairndale)	13	1	5
Dundee	44	10	13
Dunfermline	14	3	2
Edinburgh	120	31	40
Galashiels	14	6	3
Glasgow	206	64	71
Greenock	25	6	10
Hamilton	59	17	19
Inverness	22	3	9
Kilmarnock	2	0	0
Kirkcaldy	22	9	4
Kirkwall	1	0	1
Lerwick	1	0	1
Lewis	2	0	1
Oban	4	1	2
Stirling	29	13	9
Stranraer	3	2	0
Wick	4	1	1
South East	2002	1053	321
Ashford	117	47	28
Basildon	70	24	19
Bedford	48	30	6
Brighton	173	76	35
Cambridge	68	33	11
Chatham	70	27	21
Chelmsford	107	62	11
Eastbourne	26	15	3
Hastings	43	27	8
High Wycombe	125	70	14
Ipswich	89	54	8
Kings Lynn	36	18	12
Luton	110	65	16
Margate	39	18	8
Milton Keynes	48	27	6
Norwich	145	86	22
Oxford	111	66	13
Peterborough	91	45	14
Reading	141	73	21
Southend	65	37	16
Stevenage	45	27	2
Watford	235	126	27
South West	1744	1121	65
Unallocated ³	43	26	2
Aldershot	120	74	5
Barnstaple	24	15	0
Bristol	342	219	11
Exeter	59	32	0
Gloucester	136	99	7
Havant	187	133	5
Newport IOW	49	35	4
Newton Abbot	61	34	4
Plymouth	84	52	0
Poole	159	96	9
Salisbury	15	6	1
Southampton	162	106	5
Swindon	108	71	5
Taunton	71	42	0
Truro	87	58	3
Worle	37	23	4
Wales	1019	712	62
Aberystwyth	16	8	1
Caernarfon	53	32	6
Cardiff	389	277	18
Carmarthen	20	14	0
Haverfordwest	28	19	1
Langstone, Newport	179	133	9
Llandrindod Wells	3	3	0
Llangefni	27	20	1
Port Talbot	91	68	3
Prestatyn	74	46	9
Swansea	58	43	3
Welshpool	14	8	3
Wrexham	67	41	8
National	14203	7507	1981

1. Personal Independence Payment (New Claim Appeals) which replaces Disability Living Allowance was introduced on 8 April 2013, also includes Personal Independence Clams (Reassessments)

2. Data pulled 23/4/2024

3. Unallocated relates to appeals that have not yet been allocated to a venue.

5. Universal Credit was introduced on 29 April 2013 in selected areas of Greater Manchester and Cheshire, and has been gradually rolled out to the rest of the UK from October 2013.

Written Question

Crime Prevention: Birmingham

Wednesday 24th April 2024

Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department has taken to (a) reduce crime and (b) improve community safety in Birmingham.

Answered by Chris Philp - Minister of State (Home Office)

This Government is committed to cutting crime, keeping our streets safe, and restoring confidence in the criminal justice system.

Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs), as the locally elected and democratically accountable individual, are responsible for the totality of policing in their area. They set local policing and crime objectives in partnership with their communities and key stakeholders and hold the Chief Constable to account for the delivery of efficient and effective policing.

The Government is funding a range of initiatives in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands police force area to reduce crime. Through the Safer Streets Fund, the West Midlands has received just over £3.7m of investment through five rounds of the Fund. As part of the current Round Five, the West Midlands PCC has been allocated £819k to deliver interventions aimed at targeting neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour, and violence against women and girls.

To tackle the drivers of serious violence, the Home Office has invested over £20m since 2019 to develop the West Midlands Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), including funding of over £4.38m in 2023/2024. The West Midlands VRU delivers a range of preventative interventions, cognitive behavioural therapy programmes, and sports-based diversionary programmes.

During the Police Uplift, West Midlands recruited 1,376 additional uplift officers against a total three-year allocation of 1,218 officers. As at 30 September 2023, there were 7,982 police officers in West Midlands, a total growth of 1,291 additional officers against the baseline (6,691) at the start of the Police Uplift.

Overall, the West Midlands will receive up to £790.4 million in 2024/2025 from the police funding settlement, an increase of up to £51.1 million when compared to 2023/2024.

Written Question

Small Businesses: Birmingham

Wednesday 24th April 2024

Asked by: Tahir Ali (Labour - Birmingham, Hall Green)

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to support small and medium-sized enterprises in Birmingham.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Business Growth West Midlands is a regional business support function and is funded by both the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). DBT supports small and medium enterprises with national programmes such as the Growth Hub network and through schemes such as Help to Grow. The new Help to Grow Campaign includes a dedicated website, acting as a resourcing hub for business support and advice, as well as SME leadership training schemes, Help to Grow Management and Help to Grow: Management Essentials.

UK businesses, including those in Birmingham, can access DBT’s wealth of export support via Great.gov.uk. This comprises a digital self-serve offer and our wider network of support, including trade advisers, Export Champions, the Export Academy, our International Markets network and UK Export Finance.

Written Question

Apprentices: Taxation

Monday 22nd April 2024

Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of apprenticeship levy networks in improving small businesses’ access to apprenticeship levy funding.

Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)

The apprenticeship levy supports employers of all sizes to invest in high-quality apprenticeship training. Transfers are a great way for large employers to use their levy funds to support apprenticeships in other businesses, including small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), flexi-job apprenticeship agencies and charities, to help meet local or sector skills needs. This could include businesses in their supply chain.

The department continues to promote the benefits of levy transfers and has increased the proportion of their funds that levy-paying employers can transfer to support more apprenticeships in other businesses from 25% to 50%. This will help SMEs hire more apprentices by reducing their costs and enabling them to benefit from the support and experience that larger employers can provide.

Hundreds of large levy-paying employers have already taken advantage of the opportunity to transfer their unused levy funds to other businesses. Since September 2021 over 550 employers, including ASDA, HomeServe, and BT Group, have pledged to transfer over £37 million to support apprenticeships in businesses of all sizes. It is also encouraging to see regional schemes to support local businesses through transfers, including in the West Midlands.

SMEs can also access funding directly from the apprenticeships budget. The department has increased investment in the apprenticeships system in England to over £2.7 billion this financial year to support employers of all sizes, including SMEs. In addition, last year, the department removed the limit to the number of apprentices that SMEs can take on, making it easier for them to grow their businesses. This has already benefitted almost 350 SMEs. The department also now fully funds the costs of training and assessment for new apprentices aged 16 to 21 in small businesses.

Written Question

Apprentices: Taxation

Monday 22nd April 2024

Asked by: Jonathan Gullis (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent North)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to (a) support and (b) promote regional levy networks.

Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)

Written Question

Prison Officers: Vacancies

Monday 22nd April 2024

Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many vacancies for band (a) three, (b) four and (c) five prison officers there are as of 16 April 2024, by (i) prison and (ii) region.

Answered by Edward Argar - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)

We are doing more than ever to attract and retain the best staff, including boosting salaries and launching our first-ever nationwide advertising campaign. These efforts are working - we have over 4,800 FTE additional officers between March 2017 and December 2023 and retention rates for prison staff are improving.

Our latest published HMPPS workforce statistics present data up to 31 December 2023. While you have asked for data as at 16 April 2024, we are unable to provide data for periods following December 2023 as this could pre-empt the next set of published Staff in Post data, which will be released on Thursday 16 May 2024. Once updated staffing data have been published in May, including data up to 31 March 2024, we will then be able to consider questions related to vacancy data up to and including March 2024.

In December 2023, across the whole of the Public Sector Prison estate in England and Wales (including the Youth Custody Service) for Band 3-5 Prison Officers, Staff in Post was 63 FTE below the Target Staffing level. This figure is a combination of indicative vacancies at prisons with Staff in Post below their Target Staffing level and the indicative number of surplus staff at other prisons where Staff in Post is above their Target Staffing level. Where possible, prisons with surplus staff are likely to be sending those staff to work on Detached Duty at prisons with vacancies. At times, we have intentionally over-recruited in certain prisons or regions to give the system wider resilience and where prisons are not at their Target Staffing level. Use of Detached Duty, a long-standing mechanism to deploy staff from one prison or region to support another, is also not reflected in the indicative vacancies number.

In December 2023, there were just under 790 FTE Band 3-5 Prison Officer indicative vacancies across individual Public Sector Prison establishments in England and Wales, where Staff in Post was below their Target Staffing level, and just over 720 FTE indicative number of surplus staff across individual Public Sector Prison establishments, in establishments where Staff in Post was above their Target Staffing level.

Table One (below) shows the total Band 3, Band 4 and Band 5 Prison Officer indicative vacancies (FTE) across Public Sector Prisons England & Wales, by region, as of December 2023. Table Two attached shows total Band 3, Band 4 and Band 5 Prison Officer indicative vacancies (FTE) across Public Sector Prisons England & Wales, by region, December 2023.

Table One: Total Band 3, Band 4 and Band 5 Prison Officer indicative vacancies (FTE) across Public Sector Prisons England & Wales, by region (summed from the establishment level in Annex A), December 2023
Region	Band 3 Indicative Vacancies	Band 4 Indicative Vacancies	Band 5 Indicative Vacancies
Avon, South Dorset and Wiltshire Prisons	30	6	5
Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk Prisons	10	13	6
Cumbria & Lancashire Prisons	0	6	5
Devon and North Dorset Prisons	12	3	0
East Midlands Prisons	22	7	14
Greater Manchester, Merseyside & Cheshire Prisons	0	8	4
Hertfordshire, Essex and Suffolk Prisons	11	8	0
Kent, Surrey and Sussex Prisons	59	10	9
London Prisons	13	36	22
Long Term High Security Estate - North	12	23	7
Long Term High Security Estate - South	259	49	33
North East Prisons	0	12	10
North Midlands Prisons	0	8	7
South Central Prisons	48	25	7
West Midlands Prisons	0	10	15
Women's Prison Group	25	3	9
Yorkshire Prisons	4	4	10
Youth Custody Services*	-	-	31
Wales	36	4	1
	541	237	196

* In addition, there were 76 FTE vacancies across the Band 3 and 4 grades combined for the Youth Custody Services. In the Youth Custody Services there are a considerable number of staff employed at Band 3 grade working against the Band 4 target as they work towards becoming Band 4 Youth Justice Workers. As a result, we have merged the Band 3 and 4 grades for these five institutions.

Notes on data in this response

All data is taken from Workforce Planning Tool returns and shows the average position across the month (as of December 2023), adjusted for joiners and leavers in the month.
Data only covers Public Sector Prison establishments (including the four Young Offenders Institutions (Cookham Wood, Feltham, Werrington and Wetherby)) in England and Wales (and the Youth Custody Service) and will not reflect any Band 3 – 5 Prison Officers who are working in headquarters establishments (e.g. area offices), Public Sector Prisons in Wales or Privately Managed Prisons.
Workforce Planning Tool returns are manually completed by staff in prisons each month and, as with any manual returns, are subject to human error.
Indicative vacancies are the difference between Target Staffing levels and Staff in Post across the entire Public Sector Prison estate in England and Wales at prisons (and the Youth Custody Service) with Staff in Post below their Target Staffing level. Indicative surpluses are the difference between Target Staffing levels and Staff in Post across the entire Public Sector Prison estate in England and Wales (and the Youth Custody Service) at prisons where Staff in Post is above their Target Staffing level.
In Table One we have summed indicative vacancies at the Public Sector Prison establishment level to produce the table showing indicative vacancies at the regional level.
Target Staffing level is the number of staff required to run an optimal regime in each prison. This level is greater than the minimum number of staff required for a prison to operate safely, and includes allowances for staff taking leave, being off sick or being on training.
The Target Staffing Figures are set on a site-specific basis and vary in size.
Band 3-5 Officers includes Band 3-4 / Prison Officers (including specialists), Band 4 / Supervising Officers, and Band 5 / Custodial Managers.
Target Staffing levels are established based on a 39-hour working week. Staff in Post (FTE) is set at 1.0 FTE for those on a 39-hour contract / 1.05 FTE for those on a 41-hour contract and 0.95 FTE for those on a 37-hour contract.
Target Staffing levels cannot be used to directly calculate vacancies due to the discretion governors have to change establishment level staffing requirements through Governors' Freedoms. As a result, the MoJ does not currently regularly present vacancy data and the data presented should be treated as indicative.
Staff in Post data used to calculate an indicative number of vacancies does not take into account those on long-term absences (e.g. career breaks) / loans / secondments / agency staff or other forms of overtime.
There will be some prisons in our data who appear to have a surplus of staff at the Band 3 or Band 4 grades whereas in reality some of these staff are temporarily promoted to more senior grades. Temporary promotions will not be visible in this data and so these roles will appear as vacancies.

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