Welfare rights news and case law

19 December, 2017

Claimants are entitled to a bedroom under regulation B13 with reference to the actual occupants or class of occupants who may occupy the room

CH/1987/2016

18 December, 2017

Government publishes response to Paul Gray's second independent review of personal independence payment assessments

Response sets out actions the DWP has taken or will take in relation to Mr Gray's recommendations

18 December, 2017

More than a third of PIP claimants feel unable to explain things they want to at their assessment

New DWP-commissioned research also finds that one in five claimants do not take evidence to their face-to-face assessment that they wanted to take

18 December, 2017

Whether changes to support for mortgage interest loan limits in 2009 discriminate against disabled claimants

[2017] EWCA Civ 2123

15 December, 2017

Government confirms that 75,000 claimants may have been underpaid ESA following conversion from incapacity benefit

However, Secretary of State says arrears will only be paid from October 2014

15 December, 2017

Extension of flexible payment arrangements for universal credit claimants in Scotland

New statutory instrument extends entitlement to flexible payments to any claimants in the full service

15 December, 2017

Urgent Bulletin issued to local authorities on closure of universal credit live service to new claims from 1 January 2018

DWP advises that anyone making a claim in a universal credit live service area after 31 December 2017 will be directed to claim housing benefit and other legacy benefits

15 December, 2017

Government dismisses call for a code of conduct for work coaches on applying sanctions to disabled people

Response to Select Committee's Disability Employment Gap report says current training and performance monitoring is sufficient

15 December, 2017

Factors to consider when assessing visual impairment and ability to complete activity 'safely' in relation to PIP mobility activity 1 (planning and following a journey)

CPIP/1998/2017

15 December, 2017

Scottish Government confirms that Scotland’s new social security system will be open to independent scrutiny

Response to Social Security Committee report on Stage 1 of the Social Security (Scotland) Bill also agrees that regulations made under the Bill will require enhanced parliamentary scrutiny

14 December, 2017

DWP drops its key performance measure to uphold 80 per cent of decisions when carrying out mandatory reconsiderations

Minister says figure was internal measurement only but has been dropped to avoid 'anxiety and confusion'

14 December, 2017

Only 12 per cent of mandatory reconsiderations of ESA work capability assessment decisions result in a changed decision

New DWP statistics also show that the average clearance time for a mandatory reconsideration was 11 days in October 2017

14 December, 2017

Government confirms that new claims to universal credit live service will not be accepted from 1 January 2018

Roll-out of the universal credit full service in postcode areas administered by North Kensington Jobcentre will also be delayed to 12 December 2018

14 December, 2017

Local authorities in England and Wales spent 44 per cent of their DHP funding in first six months of 2017/2018

New DWP statistics also show that in the same period local authorities spent 35 per cent of their annual DHP funding allocated for the benefit cap

14 December, 2017

84 per cent of social security and child support appeal receipts relate to PIP and ESA

New Ministry of Justice statistics also show that the number of outstanding appeals has increased by 71 per cent to 108,400

13 December, 2017

Almost 3 million claims for personal independence payment have been cleared since its introduction in 2013

New DWP statistics also show that, at the end of October 2017, more than 1.6 million people had a personal independence payment claim in payment

13 December, 2017

DWP revises number of universal credit claims up by more than 40,000

New figures issued for January 2017 to September 2017 following a problem with one of the 'underlying datasets'

13 December, 2017

Number of universal credit claimants increases 4 per cent on previous month

New DWP statistics also highlight that the total number of 'starts' that have been made since universal credit began is now 1.2 million

12 December, 2017

SSAC launches consultation on benefit support provided to young people living independently

Committee seeks evidence on the effectiveness and impact of support provided