Page 80 - JUSTICE and AJC Report - Reforming Benefits Decision-Making

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3.9 The percentage of awards changed for ESA WCA rose from 23 per cent in
January 2019 to 51 per cent in December 2019. In April 2020, the proportion
of ESA awards changed soared to 82 per cent. It has since fallen but has
remained higher than pre-pandemic levels, with the most recent statistics for
January 2021 showing 69% of awards changed. However, in addition to the
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new operational approaches outlined above, the DWP has stated that this
needs to be viewed in the context of the significant drop in the numbers of
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ESA WCA mandatory reconsiderations and the changing composition of
WCA decisions caused by a number of factors including, the pandemic and
the introduction of UC, which has replaced most income-related new claims
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to ESA.
3.10 For PIP, the proportion of awards changed rose from 23 per cent to 40 per
cent between January and December 2019. The proportion of PIP awards
changed also peaked in April 2020, at 57 per cent. From May 2020 the
proportion of changed awards resumed pre-pandemic patterns (at around 37-
39 per cent), although it again increased to 52 per cent in January 2021. The
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number of PIP mandatory reconsiderations has seen some drop-off since the
start of the pandemic but not as significantly as with ESA WCA mandatory
reconsiderations.
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3.11 We appreciate that, clearly, there has been an improvement in the conduct of
mandatory reconsiderations and it can no longer be considered the ‘rubber
stamping exercise’ it once was, at least for PIP and ESA WCAs, which we
have the data for. In comparison, the proportion of awards changed by the

213 Either to award an entirely disallowed claim or increase the level of entitlement.
214 DWP, ‘ESA: outcomes of WCAs’ (see n. 37 above).
215 Between April 2020 and January 2021 the average number of ESA WCA registrations per month
was 299, compared with an average for the year April 2019 to March 2020 of 3,730 per month (DWP,
Stat-Xplore: ESA Work Capability Assessments, Mandatory Reconsiderations – Registrations).
216 DWP, ‘ESA: outcomes of WCAs’ (see n. 37 above).
217 DWP, ‘PIP Statistics to January 2021’ (see n. 2 above); DWP, Stat-Xplore: Personal Independence
Payment, PIP MR Clearances.
218 DWP, Stat-Xplore: Personal Independence Payment, PIP MR Registrations.

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