Bedrooms and a family home – NearlyLegal
‘A new First Tier Tribunal bedroom tax appeal decision from Liverpool, again a successful one, and this time on wholly new grounds.’
NearlyLegal, 18th February 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Category: benefits
Geoffrey Sturdey: Three sentenced on burial charges – BBC News
‘Two women who failed to report the death of a man and went on to claim his benefits have been jailed for 20 months.’
BBC News, 17th February 2014
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
When is a bedroom not a bedroom? – Hardwicke Chambers
‘Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, could be forgiven for thinking that 2014 is not shaping up to be a great year for him. In the last month, the list of tribunal decisions freeing tenants from the so-called bedroom tax has been growing ever larger.’
Hardwicke Chambers, 12th February 2014
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
Upper Tribunal on bedrooms – NearlyLegal
‘There has been some excited talk about an Upper Tribunal decision on a Local Housing Allowance appeal which apparently offered a definition of ‘bedroom’. Obviously, as an Upper Tribunal decision, this would be binding on First Tier Tribunals, even though addressing LHA rather than the bedroom tax.’
NearlyLegal, 26th January 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
HB and Exempt accommodation: unreasonably high rent – NearlyLegal
‘I admit that SS v Birmingham CC [2013] UKUT 418 (AAC) has been on my to do list for a while and that, possibly, the main reason for finding the time to write it up is because I’m on a two hour strike (#fairpayinHE). But, it is a really quite important case about the application of the unreasonably high rent rule for “exempt accommodation” in Reg 13 and Sch 3 of the 2006 Housing Benefit regs. The principal question of law concerns the meaning of “suitable alternative accommodation” in those regs.’
NearlyLegal, 23rd January 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
High Court rules on provision of care for nomadic Gypsy/Traveller children – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
‘Marc Willers analyses the impact of a High Court ruling which gave an important judgment on the provision of care for nomadic Gypsy and Traveller children.’
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 17th January 2014
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.com
Personal data: Tribunal analyses the ‘relates to’ and ‘identification’ limbs – Panopticon
‘I have commented in previous posts on how infrequently the Data Protection Act 1998 has been the subject of substantive litigation before the courts. One consequence of this is persistent uncertainty over how pivotal concepts such as “personal data” are to be analysed and approached. Last year, the High Court in Kelway v The Upper Tribunal, Northumbria Police and the Information Commissioner (2013) EWHC 2575 (Admin) considered how “personal data” issues should be approached.’
Panopticon, 9th January 2014
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
Bedroom tax loophole could exempt 40,000 wrongly identified as liable – The Guardian
‘Thousands of people have been wrongly identified as liable for the bedroom tax, including some who now face eviction or have been forced to move to a smaller property, as a result of an error by Department of Work and Pensions. Housing experts believe as many as 40,000 people could be affected by the mistake. The DWP says it believes only a “small number” of tenants are affected, which it estimates number 5,000.’
Full story
The Guardian, 9th January 2014
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Shorthold tenancies and council tax liability – NearlyLegal
‘If a tenant on a statutory periodic tenancy stops living in the property, but the tenancy is not ended, who is liable for the Council Tax?’
NearlyLegal, 3rd January 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Unsuccessful challenge to 52 weeks rule in Housing Benefit Regs – NearlyLegal
‘Obrey v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2013] EWCA Civ 1584 concerns an appeal against an Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber) decision which set aside the findings of the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support) that Reg. 7(17), Housing Benefit Regulations 2006, breached Art. 14 ECHR (although not expressly set out in the Judgment, presumably in conjunction with A1P1).’
NearlyLegal, 6th January 2014
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Shortfalls, guidance and intentionality – NearlyLegal
‘A s.202 review decision on affordability was at the centre of this second appeal, brought by Birmingham after a s.204 appeal decision went against them. The issue was to what extent the review decision should manifest attention to the statutory guidance (the July 2006 Guidance) on affordability.
NearlyLegal, 15th December 2013
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
What use is a Zambrano right of residence? – NearlyLegal
‘A couple of years ago a lot of lawyers practising in housing, immigration and welfare benefits got very excited by the case of Ruiz Zambrano (European citizenship) [2011] EUECJ C-34/09. The reason for this excitement was that the ECJ said that art.20, of the Treaty, required member states to grant a right of residence to a third country national, who was the primary carer of an EU national, if a refusal to would result in the EU national being forced to leave the EU..More excitingly, this applied to EU nationals who had not left their member state, i.e. it would apply to the parents of British nationals.’
NearlyLegal, 9th December 2013
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
Regina (MM and another) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mind and others intervening) – WLR Daily
‘The current process for assessing eligibility for employment and support allowance by way of a questionnaire and face-to-face interview placed mental health patients at a substantial disadvantage compared with other claimants. The Secretary of State therefore was under a duty under the Equality Act 2010 to make a reasonable adjustment to accommodate them.’
WLR Daily, 4th December 2013
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Council ordered to fund support for disabled Roma boy when outside area – Local Government Lawyer
‘A High Court judge has ruled that a council has the power to provide support for a disabled child even when his Roma Gypsy family are working in different parts of the country and outside the council’s borders.’
Local Government Lawyer, 6th December 2013
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
Sickness benefits legal challenge to continue – BBC News
‘Two people with mental health problems can continue their challenge against government tests for sickness benefit, the Court of Appeal has ruled.’
BBC News, 4th December 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
EU migrants: David Cameron sets out more benefit restrictions – The Guardian
‘David Cameron made a fresh effort to assuage public concern about a wave of migration from Bulgaria and Romania on Tuesday when he announced a series of benefit restrictions on all EU migrant workers, including a ban on access to housing benefit for all new arrivals and a three-month ban before jobseeker’s allowance can be claimed.’
The Guardian, 27th November 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
The “bedroom tax” and human rights – Hardwicke Chambers
“At a time when Theresa May has declared that a future Conservative Government would repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 (‘the Act’) and the Justice Secretary, Chris Grayling, is leading a review of the UK’s relationship with the European Court on Human Rights, it is heartening that the judiciary is prepared to apply the Act in a manner which, surely, will attract widespread public support.”
Hardwicke Chambers, 8th November 2013
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
High Court rejects benefit cap claims – Hardwicke Chambers
“The High Court has rejected claims for a judicial review of the so-called ‘benefit cap’. Its judgment brings to an end – for the time being at least – speculation about the lawfulness of one of the Government’s most controversial welfare reforms and comes just months after the High Court rejected similar claims for a judicial review of the Social Sector Size Criteria, or so-called ‘bedroom tax’.”
Hardwicke Chambers, 6th November 2013
Source: www.hardwicke.co.uk
Benefits fraudster who fled to Costa del Sol jailed for three years
“A benefits fraudster who fled to the Costa del Sol ahead of sentencing in 2008 has been jailed for three years. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith labelled it ‘outrageous’ that 70-year-old Norman Brennan had been in Spain for five years, and vowed to bring the pensioner back to face justice.”
The Independent, 18th November 2013
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Miranda, Prisoner Votes & Judicial Review Myths – The Human Rights Roundup – UK Human Rights Blog
“This week, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the draft Voting Eligibility (Prisoners) Bill took evidence , and there were notable comments from the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the body which monitors compliance with the European Court of Human Rights. Meanwhile, Baroness Hale weighed in on the proposed judicial review changes and, continuing along the judicial review vein, David Miranda (pictured) began his claim on Wednesday.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 11th November 2013
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
