‘Childcare costs can threaten the right to a family life, but the UK government has rejected calls for an independent inquiry into soaring prices.’
Each Other, 20th October 2021
Source: eachother.org.uk
‘A disabled woman is to challenge the Department for Work and Pensions in court over what she calls its “immoral” policy of allowing landlords and utilities companies to automatically make deductions from monthly benefits payments without the claimant’s consent.’
The Guardian, 15th October 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘In Dove v HM Assistant Coroner to Teeside and Hartlepool & Anor [2021] EWHC 2511, the High Court considered the State’s obligations under article 2 ECHR with respect to those in receipt of welfare benefits as well as the scope of coronial inquiries both where article 2 is and isn’t engaged. Although it was argued that failings by the Department of Work and Pensions were relevant to a death by suicide, a fresh inquest was refused in the circumstances.’
UK Human Rights Blog, 13th October 2021
Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com
‘The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v Hockley & Anor (2019) EWCA Civ 1080. A quick note because I somehow missed this at the time. The Court of Appeal overturned the Upper Tribunal decision on whether assessment of entitlement to bedrooms for the bedroom tax was connected to the actual occupiers and their actual or potential use of the rooms. (Here there were two children and two bedrooms, neither of which could accommodate two children.)’
Nearly Legal, 3rd October 2021
Source: nearlylegal.co.uk
‘Seven out of ten people who appealed in court against a decision to deny them disability benefits were successful, analysis shows.’
BBC News, 24th September 2021
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The London Borough of Sutton has lost a case in the Upper Tribunal over whether a tenancy arrangement was a sham to increase housing benefit.’
Local Government Lawyer, 16th September 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Universal credit claimants are about to lose £20-a-week from their payments, equivalent to £1040 a year. Introduced as a temporary measure at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the extra payment would stop in October. Removing the uplift, which has helped claimants make ends meet during the pandemic, could infringe on the right to a private life enshrined in Article 8 of the Human Rights Act.’
Each Other, 15th September 2021
Source: eachother.org.uk
‘When the unanimous judgment in R (SC) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2021] UKSC 26 was handed down, it felt like a bit of a sea change had occurred. We had seen indications that the Supreme Court were becoming increasingly concerned with the perception that they were interfering in political matters in the Begum [2021] UKSC 7 case. However, the decision in SC and in R (AB) v Secretary of State for Justice [2021] UKSC 28 (handed down on the same day) gave a warning from the President of the Supreme Court about “campaigning organisations” litigating what Lord Reed perceived to be failed political campaigning for the rights of children. His concern was that this, coupled with the wide discretion left to courts when considering ECHR obligations left courts vulnerable to undue interference in the sphere of political choices.’
Doughty Street Chambers, 27th July 2021
Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk
‘The UK Supreme Court has delivered its long-awaited judgment in R (on the application of SC, CB and 8 children) (Appellants) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and others (Respondents) on the two-child rule (in the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016) limiting key subsistence benefits to two children per household, and it wastes no opportunity to disappoint.’
Oxford Human Rights Hub, 26th July 2021
Source: ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk
‘The High Court has allowed four disabled individuals to bring a judicial review challenge of how the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Thérèse Coffey, conducted the consultation on a proposed new national strategy for people with disabilities.’
Local Government Lawyer, 23rd July 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘The government has admitted it put disabled benefit claimants under pressure to accept lower welfare support than they were legally entitled to.’
The Independent, 14th July 2021
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘Cases where a person claiming benefits died or came to serious harm have now prompted 268 internal reviews since 2012, it can be revealed. The Department for Work & Pensions holds reviews when it is alleged its actions had a negative impact, or when named at an inquest.’
BBC News, 14th July 2021
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘Two campaigners have lost a challenge against the government’s “two-child limit” for welfare payments – an austerity measure brought in by former Tory chancellor George Osborne and one which critics have described as “desperately unfair”.’
The Independent, 9th July 2021
Source: www.independent.co.uk
‘In this article, Richard Ive discusses the case of Dove v HM Coroner for Teesside and Hartlepool [2021] EWHC 1738 (Admin), which raises important questions relating to Article 2 (the right to life). On 11 June 2021, the Administrative Court heard procedural arguments concerning a late application by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to join, as an interested party, a claim pursuant to the Coroners Act 1988 s.13 for a further inquest into the death of a highly vulnerable woman who took her own life shortly after all her Department of Work and Pensions (“DWP”) benefits were stopped. The Secretary of State’s application was successful, providing her with the opportunity to make submissions at the full hearing heard by the Divisional Court on 22 June 2021.’
Inquests and Inquiries Law Blog, 29th June 2021
Source: inquestsandinquirieslawblog.com
‘A disabled woman’s suicide was “a direct result” of having her benefits cut, the High Court has been told.’
BBC News, 22nd June 2021
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A one-year-old baby and her mother have won a high court challenge granting her the right to access a healthy food and vitamins scheme from which she was previously barred. Thousands of babies and toddlers similarly denied access to the scheme will now be able to benefit from it.’
The Guardian, 3rd June 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The family of Philippa Day, a mentally ill single mother who died from a deliberate overdose after her benefits were wrongly cut off, is to seek compensation from the government.’
The Guardian, 10th May 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘The family of a woman who took a fatal overdose after her benefit payments were cut say they have begun a legal claim against the government.’
BBC News, 10th May 2021
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘A five-year-old boy has won a case against the Home Office as high court judges declared the government’s “no recourse to public funds” (NRPF) policy unlawful for the second time in a year because it drives some families into destitution and breaches the duty to safeguard child welfare. Thousands of children living in poverty are likely to benefit from the ruling.’
The Guardian, 29th April 2021
Source: www.theguardian.com
‘Local authorities may have missed out on an alternative supplier of pre-paid cards or products that were either cheaper or better suited to both their needs and the needs of those using such cards, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) has said after provisionally finding that five companies engaged in cartel behaviour.’
Local Government Lawyer, 6th April 2021
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
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