Welfare rights news and case law

14 September, 2023

DWP reassures that if the deletion of messages from a claimant's online journal were to result in benefit being withdrawn due to insufficient evidence, they would 'have the opportunity to provide the evidence again'

Minister says however that the situation shouldn't arise because the Department keeps a record where it has previously verified information or evidence

14 September, 2023

Almost 70 per cent of universal credit claimants with a health condition or disability were assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity at June 2023

New quarterly statistics also show that almost three in ten of all claimants are claiming universal credit on health grounds

14 September, 2023

DWP confirms closure of a further 26 temporary jobcentres in fourth phase of decommissioning programme

Minister provides update on further reduction in jobcentre estate bringing it towards target of reducing provision to pre-pandemic levels

14 September, 2023

Home Office confirms Social Security Scotland benefits to be added to the list of public funds set out in paragraph 6 of the Immigration Rules

Immigration minister says that updated list will be published on 5 October 2023 alongside redrafted guidance for Home Office caseworkers on applying the NRPF policy

14 September, 2023

New regulations confirm pilot of Scotland’s carer support payment will begin on 19 November 2023 in three local authority areas

Statutory instrument also makes consequential, miscellaneous and transitional provision in connection with the introduction of the new form of carer’s assistance

13 September, 2023

Treasury considering ‘tweak’ to earnings element of state pension triple lock

Reports that officials looking to adopt increase of 7.8 per cent to reflect annual growth in earnings without bonuses, rather than figure of 8.5 per cent which includes one-off bonuses to public sector staff

13 September, 2023

DWP confirms next steps in Universal Support programme as part of policy to move more long-term sick and disabled people into employment

Department says new 'wraparound' in-work support scheme will help 25,000 people move into or towards work by September 2024

12 September, 2023

Government rejects SSAC recommendation that new style JSA and ESA should be integrated into universal credit

Committee nevertheless urges government to continue to look for ways to combine the operation of the separate systems that could deliver many of the improvements it has identified

12 September, 2023

DWP to pilot scheme capping rent liability of young people in supported housing who start work or increase their hours

Pilot announced as one of six projects to understand barriers to getting into work awarded total of £12.4 million through Labour Market Evaluation and Pilots Fund

12 September, 2023

TUC’s 2023 Congress passes motion calling for immediate and permanent uplift to benefit rates, and for sanctions and conditionality to be scrapped

Following a debate about social security at its annual conference, Congress also calls for the abolition of the Minimum Income Floor and a review of how the system treats atypical workers

12 September, 2023

DWP provides update on its plans for ‘providing more digital services with a human touch’

Minister confirms creation of 'Generative Artificial Intelligence Lighthouse Programme' to guide Department's use of emerging AI technology

12 September, 2023

One in six households in Northern Ireland is in poverty, with a further one in ten at risk of entering poverty

Department for Communities analysis also shows that lone-parent households have the highest proportion of households in or at risk of falling into poverty

8 September, 2023

DWP confirms expansion of universal credit managed migration discovery phase from tax credits only claimants to claimants of other legacy benefits from September 2023

Move designed to support preparation to migrate households on different combinations of legacy benefits at scale in the financial year ending March 2025

8 September, 2023

DWP to roll out secure email process for local authorities to share care home admissions and funding information for DLA claimants

Information transfer process that has been operating for attendance allowance claimants since April 2023 will start to be used for working-age DLA claimants from 11 September 2023

7 September, 2023

DWP making ‘corrections’ to how it calculates earnings for couples where one is ‘gainfully self-employed’ and the other has earnings

In a journal message to affected claimants, DWP says 'most people in this situation will find that their payment goes down'

7 September, 2023

Universal credit managed migration to roll out to South East Wales and Central Scotland in October 2023

DWP shares details of the latest areas where it will start issuing migration notices to tax credit only claimants, and says it will confirm the expansion areas for November later this month

7 September, 2023

Proposed reforms to WCA are ‘clearly’ part of government’s efforts to cut public spending

Resolution Foundation highlights that, if government's sole aim was to boost back-to-work support for people with disabilities, then it could have done so without cutting levels of benefits

7 September, 2023

Disregarding infected blood compensation payments made to a person other than the infected person in the calculation of means-tested benefits

New DWP guidance

6 September, 2023

Notional income from student loan was not to be taken into account in case where student did not apply for loan due to religious beliefs

IB v Gravesham Borough Council and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
[2023] UKUT 193 (AAC)
UA-2019-001395-HB