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Welfare rights news
16 May
DWP missed opportunities to detect potential problems at A4e, says National Audit Office
New report finds that level of fraud in current employment programmes are low, yet risks remain
David Cameron considering further £25bn of welfare cuts
Report that plans include further housing benefit cuts and 'mark two' universal credit
Whether refusal of child tax credit to substantial minority carer is discriminatory under the European Convention on Human Rights
New Supreme Court judgment
Changes to lone parent obligations for those whose youngest child is aged 5 or above
New DWP guidance
Treating hospital in-patients as having limited capability for work
New DWP guidance
15 May
DWP terminates Mandatory Work Activity contract with A4e for the South East
Minister for Employment identifies 'serious weaknesses' in A4e's internal controls
Amount of local housing allowance where extra bedroom required due to needs of disabled person
New Court of Appeal judgment
Work Programme providers may be paid over £1bn for 'outcomes that would have been achieved without the Programme'
New Public Accounts Committee report also questions ability of providers to meet targets in face of difficult economic conditions
Child benefit reforms ‘a disaster waiting to happen’
Institute of Chartered Accountants warns that benefit could be paid in one year to one person and recovered the following year from someone else
14 May
Supersession of decisions made by former appeal tribunals and Commissioners
New statutory instrument corrects drafting errors in Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement (Transitional and Consequential Provisions) Order 2008
Income support for lone parents with a child under the age of five
New commencement order in relation to the Welfare Reform Act 2009
Iain Duncan Smith defends plan to take 500,000 claimants off disability benefits
Cost of disability living allowance rising well ahead of illness, sickness and disability, says Secretary of State
11 May
DWP letters to lone parent claimants with child approaching seven years being sent in error
New HB guidance
Claimants’ views on personal independence payment application process
New DWP research highlights claimants' expectations that they will not be treated well
10 May
Second Welfare Reform Act 2012 commencement order
New statutory instrument brings into force provisions relating to claimant commitment, sanctions and civil penalties
519,000 claimants accepted on to Work Programme from June 2011 to January 2012
New DWP statistics also show that 90.7 per cent were on jobseeker's allowance and 8.5 per cent on employment and support allowance
9 May
Right to reside of parents and primary carers of children in education
New DWP guidance revises earlier advice to decision makers
New Pensions Bill introduced in Queen’s Speech
Bill will create 'a fair, simple and sustainable foundation for private saving', says government
DWP letters to people affected by next year’s benefit cap ‘going to the wrong people’
Report that letters sent to exempt households, including those with disabled children, and to those with benefit income less than level of cap
8 May
Increased financial penalty for benefit fraud of up to £2,000 in force from today
'We are getting tougher and no one will escape justice with a mere slap on the wrists', say Lord Freud
Excessive travel time and ‘good cause’ for failure to comply with jobseeking requirement
New DWP guidance
4 May
Disability living allowance reform to cost £710m but reduce benefit expenditure by £2.24bn
New DWP impact assessment on introduction of personal independence payment
SSAC publishes response to DWP consultation on PIP assessment thresholds
Committee's suggestions include that estimated 500,000 people who will lose benefit when DLA ends should receive transitional protection
3 May
Cuts in support for borrowers 'will put upward pressure on mortgage arrears and possession', says Council for Mortgage Lenders
New annual report also says that payment of housing benefit direct to tenants will not encourage lending to social housing sector
Work Choice excluded from Youth Contract employment subsidies
'Major oversight' not to include young disabled jobseekers, says Employment Related Services Association
Briefcase
18 April
CH/887/2011 — Whether tribunal entitled to find that overpayment arose due to official error and that claimant couldn't have been expected to realise that had been overpaid — [2011] UKUT 456 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Wikeley
17 April
CDLA/705/2011 — Grounds for supersession of award of lower rate care component — [2012] UKUT 11 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Lane
13 April
CE/809/2011 — Descriptor 10 (a) / whether control of bowel through medication relevant / interpretation of 'full evacuation of bowel' — [2011] UKUT 507 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Ward
CE/1826/2011 — Descriptor 5(b) as it was before March 2011 / whether decision maker needs to ask if claimant can perform activity with either hand alone — [2011] UKUT 492 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Turnbull
12 April
CDLA/2002/2006 — Exportability of mobility component within EU — [2012] UKUT 26 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Mesher
CDLA/2106/2006 — Exportability of mobility component within EU — [2012] UKUT 27 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Mesher
CDLA/496/2006 — Exportability of mobility component within EU — [2012] UKUT 28 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Mesher
CIS/828/2008 — Right to reside / Swiss claimant who was widow of UK citizen / application of ECJ judgments in Lassal and Dias — [2011] UKUT 508 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Rowland
11 April
CTC/2107/2010 — Whether couple where wife lived in Spain with children entitled to child tax credit — [2011] UKUT 467 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Howell
CH/1837/2011 — Valuation of claimant’s share of properties that were heavily mortgaged and pending her divorce — [2011] UKUT 501 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Mark
5 April
CH/171/2011 — Whether there was a valid tenancy agreement between claimant with profound mental disablement and her father — [2012] UKUT 12 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Mark
4 April
CH/1827/2010 — Eligibility of service charges for claimant living in supported accommodation — [2011] UKUT 480 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: May
CSE/360/2011 — Descriptor 20 (f) - propriety of behaviour / regulation 29 (b) - application of Charlton — [2012] UKUT 29 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Parker
23 March
CIB/958/2011 — Tribunal's reasons for preferring evidence of HCP where claimant didn't attend hearing / failure to consider adjournment — [2011] UKUT 459 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Poynter
21 March
CSIB/580/2011 — Whether tribunal entitled to find claimant unreliable but use parts of his evidence / regulation 27 (b) - whether tribunal able to look at work situation forward from date of decision — [2012] UKUT 30 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Parker
CE/725/2011 — Tribunal’s reasons for preferring assessing doctor’s evidence to that of GP — [2012] UKUT 25 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Paines
20 March
CSE/555/2011 — Whether tribunal acted correctly in going out to test distance between claimant's home and supermarket — [2012] UKUT 503 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Parker
CH/1752/2011 — Whether claimant who was said to have acted unreasonably in giving away flat had done so with purpose of obtaining benefit — [2011] UKUT 1752 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Mark
16 March
CH/378/2011 — Whether claimant likely to be absent from home for more than 13 weeks / whether days entered and left prison should be included in calculating period of absence — [2011] UKUT 457 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Jupp
CI/747/2011 — Duty of tribunal to address arguments put forward by claimant — [2011] UKUT 465 (AAC)
Commissioner / Judge: Rowland
Discussion
Social Fund Funeral Payment - cheque payable to Funeral Director
In Other benefit & tax credit issues. Last updated 16 May at 20.46 by neilbateman
“The funeral director may be reluctant for various reasons, for example a misconception about fraud. More likely, depending on what accounts system is used, receiving payment and making a refund can complicate VAT accounting which is a bit of a pain at the best of…”
Permitted Work under UC?
In Universal credit. Last updated 16 May at 20.45 by hbinfopb
“In Universal Credit the concept of permitted work is sort-of obsolete as Gareth hints above. Whether you are unemployed and looking for work, sick, already working or prevented by domestic circumstances from working, you are entitled to UC in principle subject to the means test. …”
A4E Emma Harrison: nice work if you can get it
In Advice sector policy issues. Last updated 16 May at 18.33 by Stevegale
“Spoke to client this week who was on the Work Programme (not A4e). Client had previously had a responsible job and held a maths A level. Contractor could only suggest client should undertake a basic maths course to improve their job prospects. What a waste…”
Re: Court of Appeal decision - size criteria and disability
In Housing benefit & council tax benefit . Last updated 16 May at 17.24 by jan
“Jane OP - 16 May 2012 12:47 PMThat is impressive, well done. So what happens now? Are we waiting to see if the SSWP appeals? If they don’t appeal might they just decide to change the regs? Does that ever happen? Jane we are waiting…”
Commercial/Contrived
In Housing benefit & council tax benefit . Last updated 16 May at 15.41 by Mairi
“All the best Sue. Look forward to seeing many more postings on the MSE forum from you. Mairi ”
Payments on Revision
In Decision making and appeals. Last updated 16 May at 13.03 by Jane OP
“Hi, the stuff about ESA pending appeal is page 210 of the 2012 book. But I see your difficulty now – if you look for a rule and can’t find it, it’s difficult to know if that’s because it doesn’t exist or because you can’t…”
Employment & Support Allowance - Payment of Work Related Activity Component
In ESA & other incapacity related benefits. Last updated 16 May at 12.44 by Jane H
“Hello - I have followed this thread and well done for winning that tribunal. I can see that there is scope here for us all to encourage people in this situation to try for the extra payment. However, in practice I am sure we are…”
DLA reform: coalition is exaggerating benefit fraud for its own benefit
In Disability related benefits. Last updated 15 May at 15.32 by jan
“social security is fast becoming an omnishambles, because the reforms are ideological, not objective or reason-based. PIP is designed to save £2.45 billion… that’s how objective the disability quantification test will be… at the risk of sounding like Towellie - don’t forget about the Leveson…”
Contributory ESA and Carers Allowance NI contributions
In ESA & other incapacity related benefits. Last updated 15 May at 14.17 by Domino
“To meet the second contribution condition it is necessary to have either paid or received NI credits producing an earnings factor of at least 50 times the lower earnings limit in each of the last 2 complete tax years ending before the relevant benefit year. …”
Legal aid procurement – 2013+ contracts
In Advice sector policy issues. Last updated 15 May at 14.00 by Paul Treloar
“Article from new Legal Voice website, covering the new tender process. This introductory article deals with what is being tendered, how and when. It also queries whether the process may be the subject of a legal challenge by a new entrant. Barring any last minute…”
Council Tax - Liability - Death - Change of Person(s) Liable. Clarification Needed...
In Housing benefit & council tax benefit . Last updated 15 May at 11.42 by nevip
“Assuming there are no outstanding issues as to succession of the tenancy, then my view is that all the adult residents in the dwelling are jointly and severally liable for the council tax beginning on the day after the mother’s death (subject to exemptions, discounts…”
Severe Disability Premium - who counts as not living with you
In Pension credit & other benefits for older people. Last updated 15 May at 9.20 by Domino
“Providing they are not closely related, the other person will not count as a non-dependent if they are jointly liable with the claimant to make payments to the landlord (i.e. rent) for occupying the accommodation. This is the meaning of Sch 2 para 2(6)(b). So,…”
Re-claiming Contributory ESA
In ESA & other incapacity related benefits. Last updated 15 May at 7.48 by Tom H
“Craven CAB welfare benefits - 14 May 2012 02:16 PMI have a client who has used up her 365 days of c-ESA, but has not been transitioned from ICB. I wonder if she will get another 365 days, on being transitioned? This came about because…”
WTC Overpayment
In Working tax credit & child tax credit. Last updated 14 May at 16.22 by Josephina
“Hello we have won two appeals related to this issue. At the time I consulted some old decisions concerning Income Support, as they apply the same definition of remunerative work. In particular I found useful: R(IS) 13/99, Karantzis v Chief Adjudication Officer. The Court decided…”
Self employment as 'authorised work', in 52 week rule for A8 nationals.
In ESA & other incapacity related benefits. Last updated 14 May at 15.39 by Josephina
“What happened after 2009? ”
'ESA claimant journey'
In ESA & other incapacity related benefits. Last updated 14 May at 15.32 by Gareth Morgan
“Isn’t the whole of benefits based on Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle? You can know if someone’s entitled or you can know how much they should get if they were entitled but you can’t know both. ”
SMI - attribution of payments when two payments fall within the same month
In ESA & other incapacity related benefits. Last updated 14 May at 12.59 by Craven CAB welfare benefits
“Soc Sec (Claims and Payment) regs, looks to be schedule 9A(4). We came across something similar, with a certain (northerly) bank attributing an SMI payment to the “unsecured part of the mortgage” in preference to the mortgage (apparently their terminology for “a separate and unsecured…”
ESA in Youth
In ESA & other incapacity related benefits. Last updated 14 May at 11.50 by Tony Bowman
“ESA-Y ended on 30 April for new claims and the ordinary 3 month backdating rule applies so no need for 28 weeks backdated sicknote. The DMG memo in this news article has info: http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/news/story/changes-to-contributory-employment-and-support-allowance/ ”
Tactics for dealing with official error
In Working tax credit & child tax credit. Last updated 14 May at 9.35 by Tony Bowman
“Hi Jasper, There’s more than one welfare rights specailist advice agency in the Liverpool area and I strongly suggest you make use of them. You can use the link I posted earlier to find a specialist welfare benefits adviser closest to you or your client.…”
2013 Standard Civil Contract (Legal Services Commission)
In Advice sector policy issues. Posted 14 May at 8.55 by Paul Treloar
“The Legal Services Commission (LSC) has published a final draft of the Standard Terms to the 2013 Standard Civil Contract to give contract holders notice of these in advance of the forthcoming civil legal aid tender exercise. The Standard Terms are substantively based on the…”
