Ulster Unionist MLA Rosemary Barton has said she is very concerned at the massive backlog of social security appeals that are within the appeals service with no indication of when the backlog will be significantly reduced.

Mrs Barton said: “Constituency Offices of colleagues and I have seen an increase in the number of social security appeals waiting to be heard by the appeals service. With this background I submitted a question to the Department for Communities, which has resulted with the Department indicating that at the 31 August 2020 there were 7,731 appeals awaiting decision, which I’m sure will likely have risen in the past two months.

“Before the Covid-19 pandemic created havoc with many aspects of our lives, getting an appeal to its final stage was not the quickest process with it taking some months from the appeal was lodged until its conclusion.

“With no appeals having been heard for a number of months, and now only limited capacity, which is further hampered as I understand that oral hearings are not yet being heard, it would appear that it may take years to get the system back to its pre-covid timescale.

“This is all happening at a time when the most vulnerable in our society are suffering most. Many people that have suffered an illness, an accident, have been made unemployed or their wages significantly reduced cannot have their appeal for support to be heard.

It is crucial that the Department find a mechanism to reduce the timescales that vulnerable people have to wait for their appeal to be heard.”

Question

To ask the Minister for Communities how many benefits appeals have been submitted to the Appeals Service are awaiting a decision.

Answer

As a result of the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, no appeals were listed for hearings between 18 March 2020 and 6 July 2020. At 31 August 2020 there were 7,731 appeals awaiting a decision.