Diverse Disabilities: Accessibility and Justice in the Tribunal

Diverse Disabilities is a research project being conducted by ICPR in partnership with Healing Justice Ldn. 

Since 2013, millions of people have claimed Personal Independence Payment (PIP), a cash benefit to help with the extra costs of disability. However, despite the majority of disabled people having invisible and fluctuating conditions, the assessment and appeal processes for PIP often still rely on a narrow understanding of disability, expecting claimants to present with stable, physical, and visible disabilities. This, sometimes unconscious, expectation impacts decision-making and the accessibility of justice within the PIP process. Whilst the Tribunal Service plays a vital role in reviewing PIP decisions, appellants face challenges when attempting to contest an initial decision, rooted in misunderstandings of disability and consequent failures to respond effectively to appellants’ impairments and accessibility needs. 

This research examines how adopting an expansive and dynamic understanding of disability could be a catalyst for improving accessibility and decision-making in the Tribunal Service. 

The project includes three phases of work:

1. Reviewing existing research, evaluations, advice and guidance relating to disability and accessibility in the tribunal.
2. Observing PIP appeal hearings in England and Wales and interviewing tribunal panel members, welfare rights advisers, and disabled appellants. 

3. Holding co-production workshops with disabled people with lived experience and legal professionals to co-produce guidance, policy briefings and recommendations to inform improvements to accessibility and decision-making in the Tribunal Service.