Welfare rights news and case law

5 August, 2021 Open access

Expiry of coronavirus-related social security provisions in Scotland from 30 September 2021

Coronavirus (Extension and Expiry) (Scotland) Act 2021 receives Royal Assent

5 August, 2021 Open access

Welsh Government to increase self-isolation support payment to £750 from 7 August 2021

Increase will provide further reassurance to those who have been told to isolate by NHS Wales test and trace service, says Minister

4 August, 2021

Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland overturns High Court judgment that differential treatment of claimants under terminal illness provisions is unlawful

The Department For Communities v Cox [2021] NICA 45

4 August, 2021

Ministry of Justice launches consultation on dispute resolution in England and Wales

Call for evidence seeks views on making the justice system 'better able to resolve disputes in smarter ways'

4 August, 2021 Open access

Work being carried out by around 1,400 DWP staff to identify fraud and error in universal claims made during the pandemic is being undertaken with the ‘utmost care and diligence’

Work and Pensions Minister adds that the Department is taking a 'sensitive and proportionate' approach, but that in cases resulting in overpayments 'we take the appropriate steps to recover'

4 August, 2021

Net savings from the introduction of universal credit might not be as big as a result of Covid-19, but it is ‘clearly more cost-effective than the system it replaces’

Work and Pensions Minister also says that while the one-off costs of managed migration are yet to be fully determined, they are not relevant to a comparison between the administrative costs of universal credit and legacy benefits

3 August, 2021 Open access

Government outlines how it intends to advise universal credit claimants about the end of the £20 uplift

Work and Pensions Minister says that communications will be issued 'over the Summer' making it clear that the uplift will no longer be included in the claimant's standard allowance from the Autumn

3 August, 2021

Court of Appeal overrules High Court judgment that found that differential treatment of social security benefit claimants with a terminal illness is unlawful

With the NI government having committed to changing the 12-month rule and to looking at further options for reform, Court finds that it would not be appropriate for it to intervene

2 August, 2021

Work and Pensions Committee launches inquiry into children in poverty with no recourse to public funds

Committee seeks to understand how many children with NRPF are living in poverty, how the pandemic has impacted on them, and what support is available to them

30 July, 2021

Radical overhaul of the DWP’s approach to employment support needed to break down unacceptable barriers faced by disabled people

New Work and Pensions Committee report recommends wide-ranging changes including localisation of employment support and 'wholesale reform' of the work capability assessment

29 July, 2021

Tribunal found to have breached procedural rules in relation to panel composition, appearance of bias, and limiting claimant’s rights to withdraw appeal

PD v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (PIP)
[2021] UKUT 172 (AAC)
CPIP/548/2020

29 July, 2021

Department for Communities confirms Steps 2 Success programme closed for all participants with effect from 31 March 2021

However, final statistical bulletin highlights that validation of employment outcomes was not possible between March 2020 and February 2021 due to Covid-19 pandemic

28 July, 2021

Government sets out plans to ‘make the world of work more inclusive and accessible’ for disabled people as part of new National Disability Strategy

However, Disability Rights UK says strategy is 'disappointingly thin' on immediate actions, medium-term plans and the details of longer-term investment

28 July, 2021

82-year-old claimant who was ‘drowned in paperwork’ could not reasonably have been expected to realise that local authority error in treatment of Teachers’ Pension meant he was being overpaid

DP v East Dorset District Council (HB)
[2020] UKUT 270 (AAC)
CH/2492/2019

27 July, 2021

Urgent reform of legal aid needed to ensure that the most vulnerable have access to justice, say MPs

New Justice Committee report calls for changes including extension of possession duty scheme model to other areas of law, and introduction of updated version of Green Form scheme

27 July, 2021

When a claimant’s experienced representative does not address an issue raised by an appeal, the First-tier Tribunal is still under a duty to consider it

KN v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (ESA)
2021 [UKUT] 155 (AAC)
CSE/197/2020

27 July, 2021

Enhancement to state pension accrued through living and working in New Zealand is not payable where claimant is not resident in the UK or EEA or Switzerland

BB v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (RP)
[2021] UKUT 141 (AAC)
CP/839/2020

27 July, 2021

Northern Ireland Communities Minister urges UK Government to retain £20 uplift to universal credit and working tax credit

Minister argues that removal of uplift 'could plunge vulnerable families and households into unnecessary and unacceptable financial hardship'

27 July, 2021 Open access

Local authorities underspent Scottish Welfare Fund’s £60 million budget by £10 million in the year to 31 March 2021

However, despite the underspend, crisis grant expenditure increased 50 per cent compared to the previous year to reach £20 million