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Reliability and reasonableness - doing something when needed and PIP case law
Dear advisers,
I’ve been trying to find where the DWP have taken this from that they wrote in an appeal response, “If a claimant is unable to complete an activity or needs support to do so at a point in the day when you would reasonably expect them to complete it, the need is treated as existing for the whole of the day, even if it doesn’t exist at other points in the day”.
I’d like to use this for lots of submissions, but I can’t find where they’ve taken this from or how I can support it.
There’s the PIP Assessment Guide Part Two - The Assessment Criteria
2.1.13 The timing of the activity should be considered i.e. whether the claimant can carry out the activity when they need to do it. For example getting washed and dressed usually happens in the morning. For example If a claimant takes medication (such as painkillers) allows the individual to carry out activities reliably when they need to throughout the day then the claimant can still complete the activity reliably when required. For example, if a claimant takes painkillers as soon as they wake and they can get washed and dressed soon afterwards they would not score under these activities.
2.1.14 If however, the medication did not start to work for a significant period such as to delay the claimant going about their daily business then the HP should consider a scoring descriptor. For example, if a claimant takes painkillers as soon as they wake but they have to delay the task of getting washed and dressed for 2 hours until the painkillers take effect then the HP should consider what help is required to carry out the activities reliably at the time the claimant would normally carry out those activities.
But tribunals aren’t interested in internal guides.
There’s The Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013 Scoring: further provision
7.—(1) The descriptor which applies to C in relation to each activity in the tables referred to in regulations 5 and 6 is ... (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), a descriptor is satisfied on a day in the required period if it is likely that, if C had been assessed on that day, C would have satisfied that descriptor. And regulation 4 and all that that gives me.
But is there anything more, any case law that you know of?
I have searched but not found any. Perhaps it was just creative writing from the DWP DM(?)
CPIP/2054/2015 (or TR v SSWP 2015 UKUT 626 AAC in newspeak)
http://administrativeappeals.decisions.tribunals.gov.uk//Aspx/view.aspx?id=4719
CPIP/2054/2015 (or TR v SSWP 2015 UKUT 626 AAC in newspeak)
http://administrativeappeals.decisions.tribunals.gov.uk//Aspx/view.aspx?id=4719
Wow!! thank you so much :-)
The text you quote is actually lifted directly from 2.6.30 of the July 2015 version of the PIP assessment guide
The text you quote is actually lifted directly from 2.6.30 of the July 2015 version of the PIP assessment guide
It must have been in the guidance before the case law then. Interesting! Anyway, I have what I need for my submissions, which is great.
I like Rightnet summaries, clear and concise -
https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/welfare-rights/caselaw/item/claimant-can-satisfy-pip-descriptors-if-they-only-apply-for-part-of-the-day
I like Rightnet summaries, clear and concise -
https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/welfare-rights/caselaw/item/claimant-can-satisfy-pip-descriptors-if-they-only-apply-for-part-of-the-day
Thank you. I don’t know how I missed that. I’ve trawled the site looking on and off for days!!
Could this be an echo from the ESA2008 Regs
“27. A claimant who at the commencement of any day has, or thereafter develops, limited capability for work as determined in accordance with the limited capability for work assessment is to be treated as having limited capability for work throughout that day.”
I’m not sure the same exists in PIP2013 Regs