MP calls for assessments and awards to be speeded up
THE borough’s MP has called for assessments and awards for disability benefits to be speeded up.
Figures have showed that assessments in the Bosworth constituency take on average at least three months longer than in other parts of the country.
Applicants whose claims for Personal Independence Payment are initially rejected by the Department for Work and Pensions are waiting on average 49 weeks for their appeals to be considered by tribunals in Coventry, and 43 weeks in Leicester.
The national average is 32 weeks.
Dr Luke Evans, MP for Bosworth, recently raised the subject in the House of Commons Chamber with Department for Work and Pensions Minister, Justin Tomlinson.
Dr Evans said: “It simply isn’t fair that my constituents are waiting on average over three or four months longer to have their PIP appeals heard than most other people in Britain today.
“PIP applicants are often very vulnerable and need to be able to access a speedy and transparent legal process when their initial application is turned down.
“The DWP and Ministry of Justice must work together to get the waiting time down.”
Mr Tomlinson said in his response in the chamber: “We are proactively contacting claimants who are seeking to appeal their decision to see whether we can help to identify additional written or oral evidence to correct the decision at that stage, reducing the number of claimants who then need to enter the independent appeal process.”
Dr Luke added: “Because of their legal nature appeals do take a long time to complete but there is no reason for my constituents to be waiting more than three months longer than other claimants.
“Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service needs to do better and I will be writing to the Ministry of Justice to make exactly that point.”