President of Appeal Tribunal Report on Standards of Decision Making by the Department 2013/14

This is the first report of the new President of Appeals Tribunals, Mr John Duffy.  The report covers the standards of decision making by the Department for Social Development for the period 6 April 2013 to 5 April 2014.

Over the three year period 2011/12 to 2013/14 the overall level of incorrectness identified has steadily decreased from 4.1% to 1.2% in the current year. With the exception of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Income Support (IS) and Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) all other benefits show a year on year improvement in the standard of decision making over the three year period. That said, the standard of decision making in ESA, IS and IIDB continues to be high.