ESA - Mandatory Reconsideration

The request was partially successful.

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

A number of people claiming ESA have told me that they have received letters from the DWP stating that their appeal will not be passed to HM Courts and Tribunals Service until the DWP has reconsidered the decision. This is clearly mandatory reconsideration as none of the people have asked for the decision to be reconsidered. They have all been clear that they wish to proceed directly to appeal.

However, the DWP state on its web site:

“DWP introduced all three changes for Personal Independence Payment and Universal Credit in April 2013. For all other DWP benefits and child maintenance cases, mandatory reconsideration, direct lodgement and time limits will be introduced towards the end of October 2013, and DWP will begin to report against the time limits from October 2014. “

Q1 – Are the DWP imposing Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) ahead of its stated date of “towards the end of October 2013”?

Q2 – Are DWP employees in error if they are telling people that their ESA claim appeal is subject to mandatory reconsideration?

Q3 – If DWP employees persist in refusing to pass on ESA appeals to HM Courts and Tribunals Service is it not the case that they are interfering with or obstructing the administration of justice and as such could be guilty of the Criminal Offence of Perverting the Course of Justice?

I look forward to a prompt response within the 20 day statutory deadline.

Yours faithfully,

Alf Denning

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DWP Strategy Freedom of Information, Department for Work and Pensions

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DWP Strategy Freedom of Information, Department for Work and Pensions

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Please see the attached response to your Freedom of Information request.

Many thanks,

DWP Central FoI Team
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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'ESA - Mandatory Reconsideration'.

Thank you for such a prompt response and the information provided.

In respect of the DWP answer to Q2 I must confess I am totally confused (DWP response reproduced below):

“No. When an appeal is made against a decision on a claim for Employment Support Allowance the decision is reconsidered as a matter of course before the appeal is sent to HM Courts and Tribunals Service. Details of this process are published in the Decision Makers Guide, chapter 6, paragraph 06100:
Action when an appeal is made
06100 When an appeal is made, or further evidence is obtained after an appeal is made, the DM should consider whether the original decision should be revised and the appeal lapsed. This applies even if the decision has been reconsidered and not revised before the appeal was made.”

If the DWP has always reconsidered its decision prior to passing the appeal to MH Courts and Tribunals Service then why is Mandatory Reconsideration being introduced as on the face of it it appears that it is introducing something that already exists and has been operational for some time?

I would be grateful if you could explain the difference between what currently happens regarding the DWP reconsidering its decision and what will happen when Mandatory Reconsideration is introduced.

Many thanks

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/es...

Yours faithfully,

Alf Denning

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been accepted by the DWP FoI mailbox.

By the next working day your request will be forwarded to the relevant
information owner within the Department who will respond to you direct. 

If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally
expect a response within 20 working days.

Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.

For further information on the Freedom of Information Act within DWP
please click on the link below.

[1]http://www.dwp.gov.uk/freedom-of-informa...

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GEOFFREY REYNOLDS (Account suspended) left an annotation ()

Strange you should ask about mandatory reconsideration and the date of implementation......

I received a letter from the DWP on the 14/2/13, informing me they had reconsidered my appeal yet at no time did i ask them to do this.
I have always maintained that i wanted to go straight to tribunal.
Its another ploy to steal the benefit what you are owed from when you appeal to the date of their "mandatory reconsideration".

Therefore the answer they gave you is a lie. What else would you expect?

Alf Denning left an annotation ()

I don't think the DWP lied, I'm sure that the decision makers guide reflects what the DWP stated. Surely the question to ask is if the DWP already reconsiders all decisions prior to passing the appeal papers to HM Courts and Tribunal Service then why is it claiming that it is introducing Mandatory Reconsideration? Could it be that the actual change being introduced is the removal of the payment of benefit while the appeal is carried out. No doubt if the DWP named the change correctly it would get some bad press.

DWP Strategy Freedom of Information, Department for Work and Pensions

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Dear Mr Denning,

Please see the attached response to your Freedom of Information review request.

Many thanks,

DWP Central FoI Team
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