§ Ian StewartTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claims have been made to vaccine damage tribunals in each year since 1990; and how many of those claims, in each year, have been successful(a) on first hearing and (b) on appeal. [114680]
§ Maria EagleThe information is in the table. Claims are initially made to the Vaccine Damage Payment (VDP) Unit. Decisions on claims are made on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the basis of a Medical Advisers assessment of the percentage level of disablement and whether it is the result of vaccination. If a claim is disallowed the vaccinated person may appeal to an independent tribunal or ask for a decision to be reversed.
Year Clains received by VDP Unit Initial award Award following a section 3A reversal2 Award following appeal 1990 37 0 0 7 1991 42 2 0 3 1992 43 4 0 2 1993 19 1 0 1 1994 78 3 0 7 1995 69 0 0 2 1996 72 0 0 0 1997 152 1 0 1 1998 177 0 1 0 1999 82 1 1 0 2000 171 0 0 1 2001 176 1 0 1 2002 406 5 0 0 2003 68 0 0 0 Totals 1592 18 2 26 1 Total awards made on claims received between 01/01/1990 and 20/05/2003 = 46. These figures do not take account of the actual date the payment was made, nor do they take account of any cases where an award has occurred following a Section 3A reversal or an appeal after 01/01/1990, where the claim under consideration was actually received prior to 01/01/1990 (i.e. a claim received by the VDPU in 1984 that went to Appeal in 2002, resulting in an award in 2003 would not be shown in the above figures as the claim was not received after 01/01/1990). 2 Section 3A of the Vaccine Damage Payments Act states that the Secretary of State may reverse his own decision or that of an appeal tribunal. Application for reversal must be made within a prescribed period.