Welfare rights news and case law

13 June, 2024 Open access

Election 2024 Manifesto round-up | Labour: Welfare Rights

Commitments include to review universal credit so that it 'makes work pay and tackles poverty', to retain the triple lock for the state pension, and to reform or replace the work capability assessment

13 June, 2024 Open access

Election 2024: Poorest fifth of working-age households have lost more than 14 per cent of their income since 2010 while pensioners have gained by £800 per year

New research from the Resolution Foundation warns that the next government will need to consider how best to strengthen the social security system if it is to prevent rising hardship and enable all households to share in future economic growth

13 June, 2024

Number of social security and child support appeals awaiting a hearing increased by almost 20 per cent in the 12 months to April 2024

New MoJ statistics also show that the average age of a case at disposal increased to more than six months

13 June, 2024

Almost two thirds of universal credit work capability assessments continue to result in a LCWRA outcome

New DWP statistics also highlight that following their post-Covid resumption, 16,000 repeat assessments for ESA were carried out in the quarter to December 2023

12 June, 2024 Open access

Election 2024: Resolution Foundation casts doubt on whether Conservative pledge to reduce welfare spending by £12 billion is achievable in next Parliament

Recent history of failure to deliver promised savings suggests otherwise, says Foundation

11 June, 2024 Open access

Election 2024 Manifesto round-up | Conservatives: Welfare Rights

Commitments include to ensure benefits 'remain a safety net not a lifestyle choice', and introducing a 'triple lock plus' to ensure that state pension is never taxed

11 June, 2024

Fifth of households affected by universal credit reform are at least £2,000 per year worse off

Analysing the impact of universal credit since its inception, IFS highlights that typical households that lose under the reform include mixed-age couples, and those with self-employed workers or receiving health-related benefits

11 June, 2024

Department for Communities highlights magnitude of NI Budget cuts in 2024/2025 will undoubtedly have a ‘continued significant and adverse impact’ on its ability to deliver public services

Consultation on proposed funding decisions, including the freezing of recruitment, pose 'significant risks' to successful completion of Move to UC and effective benefit delivery in the region

10 June, 2024 Open access

Election 2024 Manifesto round-up | Liberal Democrats: Welfare Rights

Commitments include measures to 'repair the broken benefits safety net', and prioritising carers and disabled people

10 June, 2024 Open access

Election 2024: Conservative plans to reduce social security spending by £12 billion by end of next parliament look ‘extremely challenging’, says IFS

With the principal saving coming from proposed reforms to PIP, IFS highlights that this would mean a 'lot of people losing significant sums'

10 June, 2024 Open access

Election 2024: Families with children have been hit hardest by tax and benefit changes since 2010

Institute for Fiscal Studies finds that changes to the tax and benefit system have reduced benefit entitlements by £2,200 per year on average for 7.6 million households with children

10 June, 2024

Eligibility criteria and entitlement rules for pension age disability payment in Scotland

New statutory instrument

7 June, 2024

Court of Appeal rules that refusal of bereavement benefit claim by surviving cohabitee was not discriminatory

Kelly v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2024] EWCA Civ 613

7 June, 2024

Election 2024: End Child Poverty Coalition research finds strong correlation between local areas with high child poverty rates and prevalence of two-child limit

New report argues that removing the limit, and other punitive policies such as the benefit cap, is crucial to ensuring that all children have a decent standard of living

7 June, 2024

First-tier Tribunal was not entitled to hear and decide PIP appeal as a two-person tribunal

ZY v SSWP (PIP)
[2024] UKUT 163 (AAC)
UA-2023-001807-PIP

7 June, 2024

Senior President of Tribunals issues Practice Direction on providing written reasons for decisions in the First-tier Tribunal

Direction encourages tribunals to give concise reasons, and cautions that stating reasons at greater length than necessary 'is not in the interests of justice'

6 June, 2024

PCS and GMB unions co-ordinate joint week-long strike involving Jobcentre security guards

Pay dispute continues for union members employed by G4S to provide security for DWP employees and claimants

6 June, 2024

Less than a third of the almost half a million people who have completed 12 months on the Restart scheme have achieved sustained employment of six months or more

New DWP statistics also show that almost six in ten of those who have completed 12 months have not yet achieved first earnings from employment

5 June, 2024

CPAG sets out three-step plan to make universal credit the ‘safety net that families need’

Recommendations in new report include slowing managed migration, increasing child element by £20 per week, and substantially reducing the use of sanctions