Hugh Bayley – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hugh Bayley on 2014-06-27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the total cost incurred by his Department was of appeals against employment and support allowance decisions in 2010 and in each year since.

Mike Penning

We have taken action to reduce the cost of appeals by reforming the DWP appeal process. Mandatory reconsideration, where we look again at individual decisions before it goes to a tribunal, alongside our wider reforms to streamline the system are designed to avoid the need for expensive appeals.

We have seen a significant reduction in the volume of appeals. During the first quarter of this year appeals against ESA decisions decreased by almost 90 per cent, compared to the same time last year. We expect that this will be reflected in a lower total cost incurred by this Department in 2014/15.

The operating costs incurred by the Department for appeals against ESA decisions prior to 2014/15 are as follows:

In addition to these costs the Department has paid the following amounts to HMCTS. These costs are for the number of appeals against ESA decisions that HMCTS have handled which are in excess of the volume for which they have been funded for in their baseline funding.

Note: Comparable data is not available prior to 2011/12.