Welfare rights news and case law

2 June, 2021 Open access

More than 6 million awards made under Covid Winter Grant Scheme in period up to 16 April 2021

New DWP statistics also show that total amount spent was more than £225 million across England as a whole, with 92 per cent of expenditure going to families with children

28 May, 2021

Government’s delayed response to Work and Pensions Committee report is symptomatic of its ‘dismissive attitude’ to concerns about flaws in universal credit system

Committee Chair criticises 'wholly unconstructive' response to 2019 report on universal credit and natural migration

28 May, 2021

Growing inequality in household incomes after taxes and benefits largely due to ‘diminishing effectiveness’ of cash benefits to redistribute income from richest to poorest

Office for National Statistics analysis of figures showing that income inequality has increased by average of 0.2 per cent per year over last 10 years

27 May, 2021 Open access

Amendment of child benefit ‘terminal dates’ rules to protect entitlement in cases where education ends early due to cancellation of exams in 2021 because of Covid-19

New statutory instrument

27 May, 2021

Department for Communities publishes its response to second independent review of PIP assessment process

Welcoming the identification of 'opportunities and recommendations' to improve the PIP service, DfC sets out action it is taking, including training on empathy for assessors and ensuring decision makers list all evidence considered and the weight given to it

27 May, 2021

Housing benefit claimants that could benefit from updated care leaver and homeless hostel LHA shared accommodation rate exemptions will have to self-identify

DWP guidance to local authorities also advises that their IT systems will not be amended, which means cases impacted by the changes will have to be handled via a manual process

27 May, 2021

First Minister confirms plan to make interim £100 payment to low income families as part of wider support pending full rollout of Scottish Child Payment

Statement to Holyrood on Scottish Government priorities also includes plan to make a double payment of carer’s allowance supplement in December 2021

27 May, 2021

Increase in Scottish Best Start Foods scheme payment rates and qualifying benefit income thresholds

New statutory instrument

26 May, 2021

DWP and Capita publish responses to Coroner’s ‘Report to Prevent Future Deaths’ following findings that their failings contributed to death of claimant

Changes being made include additional mental health training, 'accurate and factual' record keeping and 'holistic decision-making' that considers a wider range of evidence

26 May, 2021

Children’s Commissioners of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland urge UK Government to end two-child limit

In open letter to Work and Pensions Secretary, Commissioners argue that policy is a 'clear breach of children’s human rights' including right to an adequate standard of living

25 May, 2021

Extension of the age ranges for which the care leavers and homeless hostel exemptions from the shared accommodation rate of LHA apply

New DWP guidance on changes coming into force on 31 May 2021

25 May, 2021

Scottish local authorities spent almost all of their £78 million DHP funding for 2020/2021, including additional £8 million for Covid support

However, new Scottish Government statistics also show that spending to mitigate the benefit cap and LHA rates was well below original funding estimates

24 May, 2021

Promotion of independent advocacy for claimants will be a key theme of the health and disability Green Paper, says DWP Minister

Provision of advocacy to broader range of claimant groups could be achieved through local partnerships or 'evolution' of existing help-to-claim service

21 May, 2021

Northern Ireland Communities Minister announces plan to introduce non-repayable grant of up to £1,500 for upfront childcare costs

Minister also confirms that Universal Credit Regulations will be amended in October 2021 to enable grant payments to be included when calculating childcare costs element

20 May, 2021 Open access

DWP Permanent Secretary confirms Department is retrospectively verifying benefit awards that were subject to ‘Trust and Protect’ easements in early stages of Covid-19 pandemic

Failure to respond to the checks could lead to payments being stopped or changed, warns Citizens Advice

20 May, 2021

MPs vote against motion to expedite implementation of court rulings that found human rights breaches in benefits policies

Last of six days of debate on the Queen’s Speech also includes vote on scrapping the two-child limit and making the £20 universal credit 'uplift' permanent

20 May, 2021

Master of the Rolls sets out further detail of vision for online pre-court dispute resolution system

Front-end, pre-court portals could be accredited with a ‘blue tick’ to give consumers confidence that they are properly regulated

20 May, 2021

Ben Macpherson appointed as Minister for Social Security and Local Government in Scotland

First Minister's reshuffle following May 2021 election also sees appointment of new Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government

19 May, 2021

DWP confirms that it is working with PIP assessment providers to deliver audio recording service for face-to-face assessments

New service to bring audio recording of face-to-face assessments in line with recording of telephone assessments