President of Appeal Tribunal Report on Standards of Decision Making by the Department 2017/18

The total number of appeals registered during the year to which this report relates was 10,428, of which 392 were monitored.

The report reveals that overall levels of incorrectness in the initial decision ranges from 0% to 7.7%. The figures in relation to some of the benefits for which there was 0% incorrectness should be treated with some caution given the small number of cases monitored. The most common reasons for incorrectness were that the decision appealed against was based on a misinterpretation/misunderstanding of the evidence available and/or that relevant evidence was disregarded, both of which were recorded as 28.6%, of the overall reasons.