In short, whether working with LAs or claimants, I always include full copies of legal authorities relied on. Further, if the other party refers to such authority and doesn't provide it, I insist on it being produced if I am unable to locate a copy. In the handful of cases involving Cmmrs/UT, I have always included full authorities.
On more than one occasion, the authority cited has turned out to be nothing but an out and out blag - including an occasion where those acting for the clmt insisted a High Court judgement "proved" HB must be paid (it did nothing of the sort and was not remotely connected to benefits).
On the flip side, I have also seen authorities cited in circulars and guidance blindly adopted by LAs which, when scrutinised, have turned out to be less than relevant.
The difficulty is that, perhaps surprisingly, most LAs do not have a library of decisions, whether electronic or otherwise. I'm not sure what is available to the DWP but, suffice to say, I have seen nothing to indicate it is (generally) any better off or organised than most LAs in this regard.
Further, not every piece of case law is readily obtainable. Occasionally, it proves impossible to obtain it - there are approximately 20 decisions / judgements I would love to lay my hands on but have never been able to obtain.
Further, I'm not aware of any single benefits related website where a comprehensive set of decisions / judgements can be found. For example:
UT site: Only a selection of UTDs/CDs are place on the site.
Bailii: Again, a selection of UTDs/CDs (mostly duplicated from the UT site). However, a very good selection of case law from 1996/7 onwards.
Rightsnet: An excellent source for older and "hard-to-get" CDs and some otherwise unobtainable case law.
All of the above sites a free to access for case law etc. In addition, there are two subscription sites containing primarily HB/CTB case law - HBinfo and another I choose not to give the oxygen of publicity to.
WIthout wishing to blow my own trumpet, I suspect my own collection of HB/CTB related case law is likely to be amongst the most comprehensive in the UK (it certainly beats that of any LA I have formally worked with). I also keep a "quick-reference" guide for the purpose of locating relevant authorities for particular cases (it is of variable use!). But, by definition, that leaves every other benefit in the hands of others, if anyone.
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