Prison/remand and temporary absence

We have a tenant who was initially detained under the mental health act and then placed on remand in prison in January 2023. HB was suspended pending further information on admission dates and his intention to return etc. The tenant’s social worker provided this information in August but because he did not have written authority from the tenant to provide this information on his behalf, the Council applied the 13 week absence rule and then terminated the claim in September.  We had been hoping that the 52 week absence rule would be applied pending sentencing . I was then going to see if we could get the social worker to obtain an authority from the tenant and assist with a late review/appeal. However, we have now been informed that the tenant has been sentenced to 26 months so assuming he serves half of this and with time already served, he should be released in February. Is it still possible to appeal the termination decision and argue that the HB should be payable up to the date that he received his sentence? Or does the fact that he has now been sentenced for a period exceeding 52 weeks scupper this?

He can get up to 52 weeks whilst on remand - i.e. pending trial and/or sentencing. That entitlement exists regardless of the length of any sentence a person gets if convicted. So yes, the termination decision can still be appealed.

He is only going to be entitled for the period that he was on remand. The 13 week temporary absence entitlement that can assist some prisoners is not available to your client, as the 13 weeks commences from the date of imprisonment and includes any time awaiting trial or sentence (i.e. includes time on remand).

Ok thank you for replying, I’ll see how we get on with appealing it.