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President of Appeal Tribunals

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Bridget Prentice) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement. My right honourable friend the Secretary of State and Lord Chancellor has today published the seventh report by the President of Appeal Tribunals on the standards of decisions made on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in cases that came before appeal tribunals. The major reasons given for appeal tribunals overturning or amending decisions were that new evidence was produced at the hearing or the tribunal took a different view of the same evidence. In his report, the president acknowledges improvements by some Department for Work and Pensions agencies, particularly the Disability and Carers Service. He also recognises the work done by the department to improve the standards of medical reports. The Tribunals Service has in place a number of partnership agreements with Department for Work and Pensions agencies, which deal with benefits and make decisions on behalf of the Secretary of State, covering the interface as part of the end-to-end process of administering appeals. In addition to the agreements, regular meetings are held to review respective performance and discuss any issues to improve customer service. This is the first report published by the Ministry of Justice, as responsibility for appeal tribunals transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions from 1 April 2006. Copies of the report have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses, the Vote Office and the Printed Paper Office. Copies are also available on the internet at www.tribunals.gov.uk.