We have found you fit for work because…

...well who knows?

Never seen a decision notice quite like this before. It covers the body and mind but what about the soul?

and no points score

https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/13191/

Interesting!!!!!

I was going to post this yesterday but ran out of time.

You have got the UCD83(a) - now meet UCD83(b)!

The same letter, the same guff, slightly different wording from page 4 onwards but no facts given, no points listed.

Extract from email sent to DWP Complaints -

I ...wish to ask why this decision is wholly devoid of information regarding how the decision was made, what law was applied, what points were given, etc. The accompanying information only gives generalised information about the WCA, it does not show how this client met or did not meet the criteria.

This sort of decision hardly gives the claimant much basis for making a challenge when he doesn’t really know anything about the decision and how it was made.

Andrew Dutton - 15 August 2018 01:23 PM

This sort of decision hardly gives the claimant much basis for making a challenge when he doesn’t really know anything about the decision and how it was made.

In fairness, there is no obligation on the DWP to give reasons for their decisions unless the claimant requests them - similar to FtTs.

That said, it seems to be completely arbitrary whether a claimant gets a “full” decision letter giving reasons or a “short-form” decision letter like the one in this thread.  It would be interesting to know what the thinking is in having the two versions and how they decide which one to use.

I imagine they discovered that their full explanations, to allow the claimant to make an ‘informed choice’ whether to appeal, were leading to a lot more appeals.

It’s a question of standards.

‘We’ve made a decision but we won’t tell you what it is unless you ask nicely’ is no basis for a properly balanced relationship between DWP (big, powerful) and the claimant (who is neither) and will inevitably lead to unjust outcomes.

And if DWP can go to the trouble of adding in several sheets of paper about the WCA, they can go to the trouble of providing information relevant to the decision in question.

I think we need to seek a minimum (as opposed to minimal) standard of communications from DWP.