Kurt
Welfare Rights Officer, Tameside MBC Welfare Rights Service, Ashton-under-
Member since 27th Jan 2004
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RE: No COC since previous DLA award
Thu 22-Dec-05 09:33 AM |
Yes, R(M) 1/96 is helpful but watch out for selective quoting. The DWP have been known to just quote part of paragraph 13 which reads:
'... there can be no question of the tribunal being bound to follow any previous decision awarding benefit for an earlier period, ......'
But this technical point in isolation would detract from the more reasonable obligation to the claimant at paragraph 15 that:
'It does however, seem to me to follow from what is said by the Court of Appeal in Evans, Kitchen & Others, that while a previous award carries no entitlement to preferential treatment on a renewal claim for a continuing condition, the need to give reasons to explain the outcome of the case to the claimant means either that it must be reasonably obvious from the tribunal’s findings why they are not renewing the previous award, or that some brief explanation must be given for what the claimant will otherwise perceive as unfair. This is particularly so where (as in the present and no doubt many other cases) the claimant points to the existence of his previous award and contends that his condition has remained the same, or worsened, since it was decided he met the conditions for benefit. An adverse decision without understandable reasons in such circumstances is bound to lead to a feeling of injustice and while tribunals may of course take different views on the effects of primary evidence, or reach different conclusions on the basis of further or more up to date evidence without being in error of law, I do not think it is imposing too great a burden on them to make sure that the reason for an apparent variation in the treatment of similar relevant facts appears from the record of their decision.'
This later reasoning seems to me to be the crucial point in protecting an award where there has been no improvement in health since the previous claim.
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