My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Bridget Prentice) has today made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

My right honourable friend the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice has today published the eighth 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 which came before appeal tribunals. The major reasons given for Appeal Tribunals overturning or amending decisions were because 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 of the Department for Work and Pensions agencies, particularly the Disability and Carers Service. He questions whether the current method of producing feedback via an annual report is sufficiently focused and of practical use, and suggests a lower level of more direct feedback to agency decision-makers.

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 second 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 Printed Paper Office. Copies are also available on the internet at: www.tribunals.gov.uk.