Welfare rights news and case law

24 May, 2022

Almost a fifth of PIP appeals are lapsed before the tribunal hearing due to DWP changing the decision in the claimant’s favour

Minister also confirms that a new appeal can be registered without first requesting a mandatory reconsideration and that this is explained to the claimant both in the phone call and in the decision notice

24 May, 2022

Welsh Government sets out vision for devolved justice system in Wales

Plans also outlined for justice reform within current constraints, including the creation of a unified tribunals system and continued funding for free legal advice

24 May, 2022

Scottish local authorities spent more than twice the discretionary housing payment funding allocated to them for mitigating reductions in LHA in 2021/2022

However, spending to mitigate impact of the benefit cap in the same period was only around a third of the funding originally allocated

23 May, 2022

Select Committee presses Prime Minister on his pledge to consider raising benefit levels to help people cope with the rapidly rising cost of living

Work and Pensions Committee also launches call for ideas on strengthening support from the benefits system ahead of evidence session with Work and Pensions Secretary

20 May, 2022

Response of some energy suppliers to recent change to Fuel Direct scheme is ‘unacceptable’, says Work and Pensions Secretary

Dr Coffey warns that stance appears to be a direct contravention of suppliers' Supply Licence Conditions

20 May, 2022

Almost 8,000 staff will be affected by next phase of DWP’s office closure plan

Equality Analysis of Department's 'Network Design 2023' examines further impact of 'ambitious' Transformation Programme

20 May, 2022

Bill to vary the rate of child benefit over the course of childhood receives first reading in House of Lords

Private Member’s Bill includes provision that enables eligible parents to receive a higher rate during a child’s early years and a correspondingly reduced rate when the child is older

20 May, 2022

Amendment of Best Start Foods scheme in Scotland to allow for payments to partners, and applications from, and payments to, appointees

New statutory instrument

19 May, 2022

Government announces new ‘Fighting Fraud’ initiative that includes plans to give DWP staff powers to make arrests and carry out ‘search and seizure’

DWP says that a 'step change' is needed in its approach, despite having brought fraud and error close to near record lows before Covid-19, and having 'one of the most robust counter-fraud functions' in government

19 May, 2022

DWP to trial offer of ‘additional work coach support’ to claimants awaiting a work capability assessment

Trial will enable claimants with health conditions 'to access employment and wider skills support, and our employment programmes earlier', says Minister

19 May, 2022

Miscellaneous amendments to tax credits and child benefit provisions

New statutory instrument includes changes to make notification of appropriate bank or other account an entitlement condition for child benefit

19 May, 2022

Scotland’s Auditor General praises successful launch of new devolved social security benefits through the pandemic but warns that ‘a huge amount of work remains’

New report recommends that Scottish government now needs to plan for risks including large rises in cases as benefits continue to be rolled out, and an estimated £760 million annual overspend by 2026/2027 compared to Scotland’s block grant allocation

18 May, 2022

Claimants who miss the deadline for applying for universal credit during the managed migration ‘discovery phase’ will be given a minimum one-month extension

Work and Pensions Secretary confirms that DWP will not stop legacy benefits in that time and will undertake ‘proactive engagement’ with claimants to understand why they have not claimed

18 May, 2022

While CPI inflation rose to 9 per cent in April 2022, the poorest households experienced a rate of inflation close to 11 per cent, says IFS

However, in response to calls for mid-year benefit uprating, Chancellor says he can't act on universal credit because the government 'wants to make sure that support gets to everyone'

18 May, 2022

More than 3,000 children and young people awarded child disability payment in Scotland since its launch in July 2021

New figures also show that almost three-quarters of applications made online and that amount awarded since introduction of new benefit exceeds £3.25 million

17 May, 2022

Universal credit sanction rate now higher than pre-pandemic position

New DWP statistics also show that more than 38,000 adverse universal credit sanctions decisions were made in January 2022, the highest number across the whole statistical timeseries

17 May, 2022

Number of universal credit claimants in the ‘no work requirements’ conditionality group exceeds those required to search for work for the first time in the nine years since the benefit was launched

DWP says that migration of legacy benefit claimants to universal credit and the easing of Covid-19 restrictions on the economy have influenced the changes in conditionality group numbers

16 May, 2022

High Court of Northern Ireland rules that treatment of maternity allowance as unearned income for the purposes of universal credit is not unlawful

RK, Re Application for Judicial Review [2022] NIQB 29

13 May, 2022

APPG on Ending the Need for Food Banks launches inquiry on how to tackle the growing need for emergency food parcels

Parliamentarians particularly keen to hear from people with lived experience of needing to use food banks and will report their findings and recommendations 'later this year'