NEARLY three quarters of people who appealed against attempts to deny them disability benefits in Bolton’s processing area were successful last year.

Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that 7,506 people in the area launched successful appeals over the last year, while the Department for Work and Pensions won just 2,589 cases.

Dave Bagley, chief executive of Bolton charity Urban Outreach, said the figures show that attempts to deny them payments were unjust to begin with.

He said: “You cannot have a situation like this.

“This is a broken system because these people are often in a quite desperate situation.

“If you are entitled to something, the system’s job is to ensure your entitlement is recognised.

“It shouldn’t be a system that sets out to disprove your entitlement, it feels like its the wrong way round.”

Figures gathered by the BBC Shared Data Unit showed Bolton to be in line with the rest of the country.

In England, Scotland and Wales, 287,116 people won an appeal over their benefits at tribunals between 2018 and 2021, the majority of them claiming Personal Independence Payment.

Meanwhile 39 people in Bolton’s processing area had died while waiting for a ruling, out of more than 1,000 across the UK.

Mr Bagley said: “If one person had an incorrect decision there should be an apology.

“Numbers are irrelevant, the DWP are public servants and this is a part of the welfare system, they should apologise."

He added: “For me, its just another example of a bureaucracy that’s not caring.”

However, the government insists the service is improving.

A DWP spokesperson said: “The vast majority of PIP cases are not appealed and we continue to improve the service offered to customers, including through recent changes to our decision-making process.

“The PIP assessment process is carried out by experienced health professionals and considers how people are affected by their disability, rather than just the disability itself. More than double the proportion of PIP claimants get the top rates of support compared to those who receive Disability Living Allowance.”