Child DLA appeals - Parent wants to show video to Panel

Is it admissible for the parent to show the panel a video of the child’s behaviour to the panel?

Parents often take videos to show their children’s doctors the problems they are having and have asked if the panel will look at these.  Photographs have been accepted by panels but not videos.

First issue I thought of would be when was the video taken and if its after decision date is it no use.  DWP will not have seen the video either.

Is there any case law?

Any advice appreciated

Multiple issues but most of them are practical. Off the top of my head:

1) Is it permissible? Yes, but… HMCTS and DWP would have to be given adequate notice in terms of the practicalities of showing this at a hearing in terms of understanding what is being presented. Is it a CD, DVD, HDD, USB stick? What is the format of the video and how long is the video? A 30 second clip in a common format and on DVD is going to be easier than a 45 minute recording (only some of which may be relevant) in a format that not all can access etc. There will also be issues around whether it is date stamped; edited etc. The fact it was taken after the date of decision is potentially irrelevant if it can’t be proven when it was recorded; whether or not it was edited. However, I disagree that it would always be disregarded if it post dates the decision. It depends on the behaviour at issue and whether it speaks to the behaviour on the date of claim/date of decision etc. 

Having a clock or a calendar in these things always helps.

2) If you just go for presentation on the day then you run the risk of an absent PO objecting to not having seen the evidence and/or a tribunal who refuse to proceed in the absence of a PO as they won’t have had an opportunity to view.

3) That brings us nicely to the issue of why this can’t be provided in advance and with liaison so as to understand the format required for each party to be able to view? That’s easier said than done as a three person panel would be previewing at home and may simply not have access to the appropriate equipment.

4) On current form HMCTS may not be providing papers until the day of the hearing. Not satisfactory when it comes to video evidence.

5) Most case law is around DWP use of video evidence and a quick search brings up a previous thread on here on that exact issue. I haven’t posted the link as I’ve just had a quick read through and it doesn’t assist.

So, my starting point (as ever) would be to ask the question as to what is the specific gap this evidence would fill? Is it even in dispute? If it fills a gap or reinforces a point, how crucial is it? Is it likely that the appointees description of the child’s behaviour would be sufficiently vivid to suffice. My suspicion, and obviously I’m not in your shoes, is that this speaks more to the anxiety of Mum about dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s rather than a desperate need to illustrate a point which is hotly in dispute.

I’m sure others might be able to add case law and some other aspects I’ve not thought of.

In a previous job I did a lot of child DLA appeals for children with autism. The possibility of using video evidence was often raised by parents. Although I believe it is possible for the tribunal to decide accept video evidence if you can argue that it is relevant and appropriate, provide it in advance etc, in every case we ended up concluding that there was some sort of paper evidence that was better to use instead. Say you are trying to show that the child has behaviours that are so dangerous that they require supervision substantially in excess etc etc . You might have a video of the child exhibiting those behaviours, but how do you show that the behaviour in the video occurs regularly rather than being a one off or rare event? You could get a statement from a professional to confirm that the behaviours in the video are regular - but then you’d be better of just getting the professional to describe the behaviours instead of using a video. I always came to the conclusion that you’d need so much other info to put the video in context that you’d have a stronger and more predictable case with the traditional paper evidence.

Like Mike says I think parents get so frustrated about not being believed and they think that a video will prove their point - but in my experience it just doesn’t work like that. What would the video actually prove?

The rules are in rule 15 of the Tribunal Procedure rules.

Thank you for the response, I’ll pass on to my colleagues who were discussing this issue.

DWP submit videos on CD (with their a written submission) recorded by investigating officers and they will be admitted as evidence by a tribunal. As others have said there are various practical and merits issues.

A client wishing to do this would be well advised to submit the video evidence well in advance of the hearing with a specific request that a judge direct the clerk to arrange for appropiate equipment to be available at the hearing and for a suitable time slot for the hearing (e.g. I have a current case where the DWP video evidence is in excess of 1 hr).