Welfare rights news and case law

14 September, 2020

Communities Minister announces extension to Northern Ireland Executive’s Child Poverty Strategy

Term extended to 2022 to allow time for key stakeholders to be consulted on whether the anti-poverty strategy is sufficient or needs development

14 September, 2020

Government’s failure to increase take-up of pension credit is costing health and social care systems around £4 billion per year, says Independent Age

Calling on government to put in place an 'ambitious action plan' to improve uptake, Chief Executive says current take-up rate of 61 per cent is 'indefensible'

14 September, 2020 Open access

Food bank use predicted to increase by as much as one and half times in final quarter of 2020 compared to the same period last year

New report on demand for Trussell Trust's food bank network calls for urgent government action to address the rise in destitution

14 September, 2020

Removal of requirement to submit a mandatory reconsideration prior to appeal for ESA claimants entitled to benefit pending appeal

New DWP guidance follows recent High Court judgment that ruled the process that requires a mandatory reconsideration in all circumstances is unlawful

11 September, 2020 Open access

DWP found to have breached health and safety rules by failing to implement workplace measures necessary to prevent the spread of COVID-19

Health and Safety Executive finds material breaches of the Health & Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 on carrying out inspection at the DWP's Quarry House offices in Leeds

11 September, 2020

DWP Minister says that date for increasing the repayment period for universal credit advances cannot be brought forward from October 2021

Will Quince says that change cannot be delivered earlier in light of other priorities that 'we are committed to delivering alongside maintaining service stability'

11 September, 2020

Work and Pensions Committee approves appointment of new chair of the Social Security Advisory Committee

However Select Committee highlights that the DWP failed to follow Cabinet Office guidance to engage early and openly on appointments, and says that if similar failings occur in the future it would expect recruitment exercise to be restarted

11 September, 2020 Open access

Cross-party coalition of MPs calls for government to extend measures introduced to support claimants during pandemic, and fix structural issues within universal credit

Social security system 'is not the safety net that it's meant to be', says Chair of All-Party Parliamentary Group

10 September, 2020

DWP launches ‘rapid recruitment plan’ to get thousands of new work coaches in place by next month

'Expert' coaches will be trained in how to get the best out of people and make sure they have the support they need to get back into work

10 September, 2020

DWP confirms it will no longer require mandatory reconsideration prior to appeal for ESA claimants who meet the conditions for payment pending appeal

Policy change follows recent High Court judgment that held the requirement is unlawful

10 September, 2020 Open access

Government’s NHS Test and Trace system risks failure unless ministers fix ‘gaping hole’ in sick pay safety net

TUC calls for government to ensure that everyone has access to sick pay and raise the basic rate to at least the real living wage of £320 a week

10 September, 2020

Scottish Government rejects Social Security Commission’s call to work towards automatic awards of Scottish Child Payment

Response to Committee’s recommendations, as draft regulations are laid in Scottish parliament, also rejects call to provide for a ‘double lock’ uprating mechanism

10 September, 2020 Open access

New universal credit claimants have seen a 40 per cent fall in their net income during the COVID-19 crisis

New analysis from the Institute for Fiscal Studies highlights consequential falls in spending and a rise in the non-payment of bills compared with other households

9 September, 2020 Open access

Joseph Rowntree Foundation calls on government to make £20 a week uplift to universal credit and working tax credit permanent and extend it to legacy benefits

New briefing highlights risk that 700,000 more people will be pulled into poverty if uplift ends, as planned, in April 2021

9 September, 2020

Minister for Communities confirms that welfare mitigation schemes in Northern Ireland will continue until new legislation is passed to extend them

Responding to questions in the Northern Ireland Assembly yesterday, Carál Ní Chuilín also says she envisages new legislation will include mitigation of the two-child rule

9 September, 2020

Panel undertaking Independent Review of Administrative Law launches call for evidence on reform of the judicial review process

Views invited on whether the right balance is being struck between the rights of citizens to challenge executive decisions and the need to carry on the business of central and local government

9 September, 2020

Amendments to the Healthy Start Scheme in Wales

New statutory instrument

8 September, 2020 Open access

Government’s response to Select Committee’s report on DWP’s response to coronavirus outbreak ‘leaves many questions unanswered’

Work and Pensions Committee Chair says that there is 'little acknowledgement' of the Department's role in planning for future pressure on the social security system

8 September, 2020 Open access

Scotland records largest ever monthly increase in council tax reduction recipients in the first month of COVID-19 lockdown

New statistics also show a more than 10 per cent increase in the total value of council tax reduction awarded from March to April 2020