lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-03 conversation_16
Source: hansard.parliament.uk (2025-06-03)

UK Parliament Hansard data: lordswrans/lordswrans2025-06-03 conversation_16

Lord Kempsell:To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of Social Security and Child Support Tribunal hearings were overturned in favour of the claimant in (1) 2020–21, (2) 2021–22, (3) 2022–23, and (4) 2023–24, broken down by (a) venue, (b) regional office, and (c) UK nation. \p Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede: Decisions on benefits - typically, on a person’s entitlement to benefit, or its rate of payment - can be overturned on appeal for a variety of reasons. For instance, further evidence, including oral testimony, may be provided at the hearing. HM Courts & Tribunals Service cannot comment on decisions made by independent tribunal judiciary.

Information about overturn rates for appeals to the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) is published on gov.uk. The most recent statistics, for the period October to December 2024, was published on 13 March 2025 and is copied below.

Social Security and Child Support - Percentage of hearings overturned in favour(4) of claimant by financial year and venue, 2020/21 to 2023/24(1,2,3,5)

Venue

Region(6)

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

Aberdeen

Scotland

57%

48%

55%

56%

Aberystwyth

Wales

86%

60%

70%

74%

Aldershot

South West

81%

64%

72%

56%

Ashford

South East

74%

57%

65%

62%

Ayr

Scotland

60%

58%

57%

66%

Barnsley

North East

57%

46%

56%

54%

Barnstaple

South West

88%

67%

63%

50%

Barrow

North West

76%

67%

68%

65%

Basildon

South East

74%

63%

67%

63%

Bedford

South East

72%

62%

65%

57%

Bedlington

North East

53%

43%

50%

45%

Benbecula

Scotland

40%

100%

30%

100%

Berwick

North East

..

0%

20%

33%

Bexleyheath

London

78%

63%

65%

71%

Birkenhead

North West

71%

65%

62%

63%

Birmingham

Midlands

72%

59%

54%

54%

Blackburn

North West

69%

60%

59%

66%

Blackpool

North West

71%

45%

56%

68%

Bolton

North West

66%

54%

57%

65%

Boston

Midlands

74%

71%

60%

63%

Bournemouth

South West

86%

74%

78%

67%

Bradford

North East

59%

52%

54%

48%

Brighton

South East

69%

56%

65%

64%

Bristol

South West

84%

71%

73%

66%

Bromley

London

83%

..

..

..

Burnley

North West

61%

56%

62%

61%

Caernarfon

Wales

77%

63%

64%

68%

Cambridge

South East

66%

52%

58%

60%

Campbeltown Centre

Scotland

67%

75%

65%

56%

Cardiff

Wales

81%

70%

71%

62%

Carlisle

North West

71%

56%

66%

70%

Carmarthen

Wales

88%

53%

75%

72%

Chatham

South East

75%

65%

58%

62%

Chelmsford

South East

68%

46%

60%

62%

Chester

North West

71%

59%

58%

66%

Chesterfield

Midlands

75%

71%

67%

70%

Colchester

South East

80%

100%

0%

..

Coventry

Midlands

77%

65%

64%

69%

Darlington

North East

59%

54%

50%

45%

Derby

Midlands

75%

67%

62%

63%

Doncaster

North East

58%

54%

57%

47%

Dumfries (Cairndale)

Scotland

61%

56%

65%

63%

Dundee

Scotland

58%

59%

54%

57%

Dunfermline

Scotland

54%

61%

58%

67%

Durham

North East

72%

59%

45%

42%

Eagle Building

Scotland

49%

45%

100%

..

East London

London

69%

63%

68%

71%

Eastbourne

South East

79%

64%

60%

27%

Edinburgh

Scotland

64%

56%

56%

62%

Enfield

London

72%

69%

76%

74%

Exeter

South West

82%

66%

73%

72%

Fox Court

London

72%

66%

70%

76%

Galashiels

Scotland

59%

61%

58%

56%

Gateshead

North East

57%

53%

39%

35%

Glasgow

Scotland

62%

57%

57%

62%

Gloucester

South West

80%

67%

69%

67%

Greenock

Scotland

66%

61%

52%

63%

Grimsby

North East

63%

48%

60%

49%

Hamilton

Scotland

52%

57%

58%

56%

Hastings

South East

72%

57%

59%

62%

Hatton Cross

London

75%

63%

68%

72%

Havant

South West

76%

63%

60%

58%

Haverfordwest

Wales

85%

57%

71%

85%

Hereford

Midlands

78%

57%

59%

52%

High Wycombe

South East

70%

61%

60%

60%

Holborn

London

64%

..

..

..

Huddersfield

North East

78%

100%

67%

85%

Hull

North East

57%

54%

57%

55%

Inverness

Scotland

61%

56%

56%

59%

Ipswich

South East

66%

54%

60%

65%

Kidderminster

Midlands

77%

67%

57%

68%

Kilmarnock

Scotland

55%

53%

63%

53%

Kings Lynn

South East

66%

50%

48%

63%

Kirkcaldy

Scotland

56%

56%

47%

58%

Kirkwall

Scotland

57%

63%

65%

54%

Lancaster

North West

71%

64%

61%

66%

Langstone, Newport

Wales

70%

71%

69%

67%

Leeds

North East

67%

59%

59%

60%

Leicester

Midlands

73%

65%

66%

64%

Lerwick

Scotland

70%

45%

60%

50%

Lewis

Scotland

50%

64%

60%

70%

Lincoln

Midlands

78%

67%

61%

61%

Liverpool

North West

69%

65%

66%

67%

Llandrindod Wells

Wales

47%

20%

75%

100%

Llandudno

Wales

68%

..

..

100%

Llanelli

Wales

77%

57%

68%

81%

Luton

South East

71%

56%

66%

63%

Maidenhead

South East

100%

..

..

..

Manchester

North West

68%

61%

61%

66%

Margate

South East

73%

58%

65%

61%

Middlesbrough

North East

33%

..

..

..

Milton Keynes

South East

78%

73%

73%

58%

Newcastle

North East

54%

46%

42%

36%

Newport IOW

South West

80%

67%

83%

71%

Newton Abbot

South West

71%

71%

68%

74%

North Shields

North East

64%

57%

50%

40%

Northampton

Midlands

73%

68%

63%

69%

Norwich

South East

61%

53%

63%

59%

Nottingham

Midlands

75%

66%

64%

64%

Nuneaton

Midlands

82%

79%

64%

64%

Oban

Scotland

40%

69%

85%

44%

Oxford

South East

64%

58%

60%

60%

Peterborough

South East

71%

58%

66%

65%

Plymouth

South West

77%

70%

72%

66%

Pontypridd

Wales

100%

..

..

..

Poole

South West

66%

69%

70%

65%

Port Talbot

Wales

73%

66%

69%

75%

Portsmouth

South West

100%

..

75%

..

Prestatyn

Wales

73%

74%

74%

71%

Preston

North West

75%

61%

59%

61%

Reading

South East

75%

57%

59%

66%

Rochdale

North West

66%

63%

64%

65%

Romford

London

76%

67%

68%

70%

Salisbury

South West

80%

67%

80%

66%

Scarborough

North East

65%

57%

66%

53%

Sheffield

North East

67%

55%

57%

56%

Shrewsbury

Midlands

75%

68%

50%

48%

South Shields

North East

65%

50%

46%

47%

Southampton

South West

74%

70%

71%

60%

Southend

South East

75%

59%

76%

70%

St Helens

North West

69%

55%

60%

68%

Stevenage

South East

76%

64%

68%

63%

Stirling

Scotland

59%

62%

58%

54%

Stockport

North West

71%

64%

69%

68%

Stoke

Midlands

73%

64%

59%

61%

Stranraer

Scotland

60%

51%

62%

52%

Sunderland

North East

65%

52%

41%

33%

Sutton

London

75%

68%

71%

74%

Swansea

Wales

80%

73%

70%

68%

Swindon

South West

78%

68%

71%

60%

Taunton

South West

75%

68%

75%

75%

Teesside

North East

63%

54%

42%

38%

Telford

Midlands

77%

36%

71%

..

Truro

South West

82%

64%

81%

73%

Wakefield

North East

67%

56%

62%

61%

Walsall

Midlands

70%

61%

53%

54%

Watford

South East

73%

50%

56%

64%

Wellingborough

Midlands

75%

69%

67%

71%

Welshpool

Wales

74%

38%

48%

83%

Weymouth and Dorchester

South West

80%

67%

75%

66%

Wick

Scotland

71%

42%

41%

61%

Wigan

North West

67%

53%

55%

55%

Wolverhampton

Midlands

71%

61%

58%

53%

Worcester

Midlands

80%

52%

61%

65%

Workington

North West

70%

44%

60%

70%

Worle

South West

82%

77%

81%

55%

Wrexham

Wales

85%

62%

64%

73%

York

North East

69%

74%

69%

65%

Social Security and Child Support - Percentage of hearings overturned in favour(4) of claimant by financial year and region, 2020/21 to 2023/24(2,3)

Region(6)

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

London

74%

66%

70%

74%

Midlands

74%

64%

60%

60%

North East

63%

54%

53%

50%

North West

69%

61%

62%

66%

Scotland

60%

57%

56%

61%

South East

71%

57%

63%

62%

South West

79%

69%

72%

65%

Wales

78%

69%

70%

68%

Social Security and Child Support - Percentage of hearings overturned in favour(4) of claimant by financial year and UK nation, 2020/21 to 2023/24(2,3)

Nation

2020/21

2021/22

2022/23

2023/24

England

71%

61%

63%

62%

Scotland

60%

57%

56%

61%

Wales

78%

69%

70%

68%

Notes:

1. At venue level, some venues either did not record any cases disposed of at hearing in certain years or were closed for some of the years reported. These values are shown as '..' instead of a number.

2. From April 2023 the SSCS Tribunal started to list cases using a new Scheduling and Listing solution. This, alongside HMCTS migrating to a new Strategic Data Platform, has resulted in some cases heard and decided using this new listing solution not currently being included in the data above. Revised data will be published as soon as they are available.

3. Data are not available for Northern Ireland as appeals for Northern Ireland are administered by the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service.

4. Decisions in favour are those cases where the decision of the first-tier agency is revised in favour of the appellant.

5. Venues which did not record any hearings in the specified period have not been included in the data.

6. The regions to which the venues are attached are specific to this dataset and may not match other reports.