Charities’ action call over lifeline benefits

Appeal for a ‘root and branch’ review

SOCIETY: Charities have called for a “root and branch” review into lifeline benefits payments after almost 25,000 disabled people launched tribunals.

The number of people awarded Personal Independence Payment and Employment and Support Allowance after an appeal tribunal has risen each year since 2015/16.

CHARITIES HAVE called for a “root and branch” review into lifeline benefits payments after almost 25,000 disabled people across Yorkshire launched tribunals in a bid to access the support they were entitled to, an investigation by The Yorkshire Post has revealed.

The number of people being awarded Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) after an appeal tribunal has risen each year since 2015/16, and the average time people are waiting for a decision is also increasing, analysis of Ministry of Justice figures reveal.

Charities have united in condemnation of the appeal figures, which they say are leaving disabled people stressed, overwhelmed and intimidated, and have called for review of PIP and its assessment system.

The figures show that 24,800 people in Yorkshire have had their ESA or PIP decision overturned in their favour at tribunal appeal since 2015/16 up to September 2018. The number is rising, from 4,473 in 2015/16 to 8,839 in 2017/18, and 4,089 from the first six months of 2018/19.

The proportion of all appeals being found in favour of the applicant has also gone up, from 46 per cent in 2015/16, to 54 per cent in the first half of last year. The waiting time for an appeal decision has got considerably worse, from an average of 20 weeks for 2015/16, to 33 weeks for the first half of 2018/19. Head of policy and campaigns for Leonard Cheshire, Husna Mortuza, said: “These figures are sadly not surprising, given what we know about the shambolic way in which many decisions have been made. Earlier last year, the DWP itself identified major errors in assessments for PIP and payments of ESA, and these appear to have become routine. This has a devastating impact on disabled people to receive payments that are a lifeline for themselves and their families.

“After a gruelling assessment process, many disabled people simply don’t have the energy or resources to face the appeal process. The reported increase in waiting times will do nothing but add further stress for people going through an already overwhelming and intimidating situation.”

Mel Wilkes, senior policy adviser at disability equality charity Scope said the Yorkshire figures were indicative of the national picture, where 71 per cent of decisions for PIP and ESA were overturned at appeal.

She said: “It is eroding trust in the system. The system isn’t working and disabled people’s trust in the system is wearing thin. We want to see root and branch reform of the application system.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Work and Pensions said it was committed to ensuring that people with a health condition or disability get the support they’re entitled to.

A HM Courts and Tribunals Service spokesperson said: “We understand that delays can be stressful which is why we have appointed more than 370 new medical and disability panel members to speed up the appeals process. We also continue to appoint more judges and are developing a new digital system to improve processing of benefit appeals.”

Disabled people’s trust in the system is wearing thin.

Mel Wilkes, senior policy adviser at disability equality charity Scope.