Social Security Benefits: Ethnic Groups

Justice written question – answered at on 9 February 2012.

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Photo of Andrew Slaughter Andrew Slaughter Shadow Minister (Justice)

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of appellants to the Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal were from ethnic minorities in the last year for which figures are available; and what proportion of such applicants were appealing employment and support allowance, disability living allowance and incapacity benefit decisions.

Photo of Jonathan Djanogly Jonathan Djanogly The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice

The Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal does not routinely request or record information on the ethnicity of appellants.

However, a customer satisfaction survey was carried out for the Tribunals Service in 2009-10 which showed that there were no differences in the outcome of appeals by ethnicity. The following table shows the percentages of appellants surveyed whose appeals were successful or unsuccessful in the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) jurisdiction of the Social Entitlement Chamber.

Appeal outcomes of appellants surveyed—Social Security and Child Support Tribunal
    Percentage
Base Successful Unsuccessful
Total (1,246) 51 47
       
Ethnicity      
White (1,152) 51 47
Non-white (87) 53 43

The survey also reported on appellants’ level of satisfaction with the service provided. The following table shows the satisfaction levels reported by appellants to the SSCS jurisdiction.

Customer satisfaction of appellants surveyed—Social Security and Child Support Tribunal
    Percentage
Base Satisfied Dissatisfied
Total (1,246) 68 26
       
Ethnicity      
White (1,152) 69 26
Non-white (87) 62 31

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