The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been slammed for reportedly spending millions fighting disability benefit appeals last year.

More than £50m was used by the DWP on staff costs in an attempt to uphold decisions against personal independence payments (PIP).

Disabled Brits suffered ‘unacceptably poor’ treatment at the hands of the DWP, as per a new report.

This is according to a freedom of information request obtained by the Big Issue.

Ayla Ozmen, director of policy and campaigns at anti-poverty charity Z2K, said: “The government is continuing to spend tens of millions of pounds a year defending disability benefit appeals, despite the fact that it goes on to lose almost four in five cases.”

The government also spent a further £4.3m on staff costs relating to appeals and mandatory reconsiderations for employment and support allowance (ESA), and £4.9m on those related to disability living allowance (DLA).

It puts the total cost spent on challenging these disability benefit appeals at more than £60m. 

This is despite the rate of disability benefit fraud being extremely low. The fraud rate for PIP is 0.0%. For DLA, it is 0.1%. And for employment and support allowance, it is 1.5%.

Mikey Erhardt, campaigner at Disability Rights UK, said: “No matter your background, no one should be left without the support needed to live independently. These latest figures demonstrate how the little current assessment process properly considers disabled peoples’ own oral and written evidence. 

“The DWP’s focus on gatekeeping support has a clear financial impact on the public purse – it costs us all money while making the lives of disabled people much worse.”

Disabled people have told the Big Issue of significant challenges they have faced while going through the assessment and appeals process for PIP. One claimant who was waiting for more than two years for a tribunal date after the DWP withdrew her PIP said the appeals process is “traumatic”.

“The fact that so many disabled people have to go through a reconsideration process or appeals just to get the support we are entitled to is a damning indictment of how the current system works. Worse still, many disabled people wrongly denied PIP do not appeal due to ill health or worry and stress about the appeal process,” Erhardt said.

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“Delays in support, which are caused by so many disabled people having to go to appeals to get what they deserve, not only undermine our right to a decent quality of life but also further entrench the barriers to access, employment and social inclusion that many disabled people face.”

A DWP spokesperson said: “We support millions of people through our welfare system every year, and it is a priority people receive a supportive service and the benefits they are entitled to as quickly as possible. 

“We continue to learn from decisions overturned at appeal, and have already made improvements to our process – giving decision makers more time to speak with customers and gather relevant additional evidence – to make the right decision early in customer’s journey.”