Welfare Reform Bill

I apologise for being a little slow this afternoon, but with the permission of the Committee I shall now ask a question which I would have asked on Amendment No. 83 had I been quicker off the mark. I want to call attention to the worryingly high number of appeals—over 50 per cent according to citizens advice bureaux—that are successful under the current regime and to give the Government an opportunity to explain what they intend to do to improve those results the first time round. We understand that many of the successful verdicts are a result of new evidence being submitted for consideration. While this is a very valid reason for reconsidering a decision, it would suggest that the Government urgently need to think about some way of allowing new evidence to be considered, without going through the time, expense and stress of a tribunal. I would be grateful for any indication of government policy on this.