Welfare rights news and case law

1 July, 2022

More than £100 million a month is being deducted from claimants’ universal credit payments to repay either advances or overpayments of benefit

Work and Pensions Minister confirms that almost 2 million claimants are affected, with deductions averaging up to £55 a month

1 July, 2022

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions says she is ‘getting advice’ about when she should next review the level of the benefit cap

Work and Pensions Committee seeks update in light of change in the law earlier this year and the cap not having been looked at since 2016

30 June, 2022

Government celebrates success of its ‘any job first’ approach to getting claimants into work

Work and Pensions Secretary says that DWP has delivered on its target of getting 500,000 more people into work in less than six months

30 June, 2022

StepChange calls for a pause on universal credit deductions for government debt while cost of living crisis continues

Debt charity recommends linking the rate of deduction to a claimant's earnings on the long-term, with a maximum deduction rate of 5 per cent

30 June, 2022

Government has failed to make the case for repealing and replacing the Human Rights Act, says parliamentary committee

Joint Select Committee on Human Rights asks that the government consider whether its plans are 'really democratic and necessary'

30 June, 2022

Scottish Government warned that temporary progress in meeting interim child poverty targets in 2021/2022 is unlikely to be sufficient to meet longer term aims without new ‘transformational’ policies

However, Poverty and Inequality Commission also commends commitments made during the year and in the governmnet's current Child Poverty Delivery Plan that increase the likelihood that the 2023/2024 interim child poverty target will be met

29 June, 2022

‘Critical’ that DWP conceives of its safeguarding procedures as a duty of care, academics tell MPs

Giving evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee, academics add that trust is crucial if the system is to be improved

29 June, 2022

More than 40 per cent of households who are paid the childcare element in their universal credit receive £200 or less per month

New DWP statistics also show that just 13 per cent of households with all parents earning and children aged between 0 and 16 were paid the childcare element in February 2022

28 June, 2022

New guidance issued following Upper Tribunal judgment in relation to the types of journey that must be considered when assessing substantial risk arising from claimant being found fit for work

DWP provides advice to decision makers that effect of [2021] UKUT 47 (AAC) is that travel to and from jobcentre and job interviews is relevant in risk assessment as well as travel to and from work

28 June, 2022

New study provides ‘salient and plausible’ evidence linking universal credit to an increase in recorded crime

Authors conclude that universal credit seems to have exacerbated the discrepancy between what society promises and the standard of living that is actually available

28 June, 2022

Peers raise concerns that some groups of claimants will not qualify for £650 cost of living additional payment because of government’s desire to keep entitlement rules as simple as possible

Following debate in the Lords, government's 'deliberately straightforward' Additional Payments Bill passes without amendment before receiving Royal Assent

28 June, 2022

Enabling courts and tribunals to direct audio or video transmissions to remote observers in proceedings where they are entitled to be present

New statutory instrument

28 June, 2022

Welsh Government confirms basic income for care leavers pilot to launch on 1 July 2022

More than 500 people leaving care will be offered £1,600 each month for two years to support them as they make the transition to adult life

24 June, 2022

Chancellor confirms that spending on cost of living payments is outside the scope of the government’s overall cap on welfare expenditure

Written statement to Parliament advises that decision taken to exclude payments due to their 'temporary and exceptional nature'

23 June, 2022

Scottish and Welsh Governments set out opposition to UK Government plan to repeal the Human Rights Act

Ministers condemn 'shocking and unnecessary' Bill to provide for a new Bill of Rights and 'totally unsatisfactory' process that led to its introduction

23 June, 2022

Just 5 per cent of tax credits error and fraud favouring the claimant is down to fraudulent activity

New HMRC estimates for 2020/2021 show that claimant errors covering instances where there is no evidence of deliberate attempts to deceive make up remaining 95 per cent

23 June, 2022

Transfer of working age DLA claimants in Scotland to adult disability payment, and miscellaneous amendments in relation to devolved disability benefits

New statutory instrument

22 June, 2022

Bill to repeal and replace Human Rights Act receives first reading in House of Commons

New Bill of Rights will demarcate a clearer separation of powers, ensure greater respect for democratic institutions and 'restore a healthy dose of common sense to the justice system', says Lord Chancellor

22 June, 2022

Government confims that cost of living payments will not affect entitlement to means-tested benefits or tax credits

DWP Minister adds that new payments will also not count towards the benefit cap, and that households will therefore 'retain the full value of the payments they receive'