Lord Singh lobs grenade into DWP lobster pot - Case No: C1/2019/0640

The request was partially successful.

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

In R (TD, AD and Patricia Reynolds) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2019] EWHC 462 (Admin) Lord Singh found that DWP errors resulted in three benefit claimants making claims for Universal Credit which they need not have made. The claimants lost benefit as a consequence and were prevented from reclaiming their original or "legacy" benefits because of '“the lobster pot” principle' (see para. 5):

http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/...

Lord Singh, at para. 69, deals with the Secretary of State's argument that as the claimants had applied for UC they could not revert to their original benefits. He dismissed it:

“In my view, this is to elevate form over substance. Although it is true that the Appellants were not compelled by law to apply for UC, as a matter of practical reality they had no choice but to apply for UC. It is important that the legislation in this country governing social security should be interpreted in a way which conforms to practical reality, given the potential impact on some of the poorest people in society.'

1. Please provide all information you hold related to how legacy benefit claimants who make a claim for Universal Credit because of an incorrect determination by the Department that their circumstances have changed can return to claiming legacy benefits.

Lord Singh, at para. 94, wrote:

“It will be a matter for the Secretary of State to decide how to respond to a declaration by this Court that there has been a violation of these Appellants’ rights under Article 14. That may or may not lead to a scheme being designed which benefits other people, who are not before this Court, but the design of any such scheme will in the first instance be for the Secretary of State, although it must be done in a way which is lawful, including by reference to the Convention rights.”

2. If such a scheme referred to were to be designed, please provide me with the address details of the part of your organisation that would be responsible for designing it.

3. Please provide brief details of any other instances within the past five years were the Department was found by a court to have violated a person's rights under Article 14. Additionally, if the Department designed any scheme to remedy the violation concerned, please provide brief details.

Yours faithfully,

D Moore

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DWP Central FOI Team,

Our ref: FOI2020/25034

Contact email: [1][email address]

Dear D Moore,

Thank you for your request for information which was received on 22nd May.
Your request is being considered under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

You can normally expect a response to your FoI request within 20 working
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Finn Keaney left an annotation ()

it's been quite a while since this one had any reply off the DWP, worth giving them a nudge?

D. Moore left an annotation ()

Thanks Finn, will do.

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Could you please update me on when I should expect a response to my request 'Lord Singh lobs grenade into DWP lobster pot - Case No: C1/2019/0640'.

I understand the additional burden you are working under because of Covid. I'm just checking that it hasn't been mislaid due to home-working.

Yours faithfully,

D. Moore

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.
 
If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally expect
a response within 20 working days.
 
However please be advised that due to the current situation with COVID-19
we cannot guarantee a response within this timescale.
 
Every effort is being made to respond to FOIs as we would usually but the
current situation means that available Departmental resources will be
needed on other high priority areas.
 
We kindly ask for your understanding during this unprecedented situation
and we will aim to deal with your FOI request as soon as is practically
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[2]http://www.gov.uk/dwp
 
 

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

Dear D Moore

I am sorry that as yet we have not been able to respond to your request and apologise for the inconvenience caused. I can confirm that your request has not been mislaid and can reassure you that homeworking has no bearing on the secure handling or retention of any requests.

The Department is working hard to answer all FOI requests as soon as it is able to but we are unable to provide a specific timescale at this time due to the ongoing CV-19 pandemic and the need to focus resources on frontline high-priority areas.

Thank you for your patience and understanding at this time.

DWP Central FOI Team

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DWP Central FOI Team,

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Dear D Moore,

I am writing in response to your request for information, received 22nd
May.

Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your Freedom of
Information request. However due to the current situation with COVID-19 it
was not possible for me to reply to you within the timeframe of 20 working
days.

Yours sincerely,

DWP Central FoI Team

D. Moore left an annotation ()

The information is not held, and the carefully worded information provided outside of the FOIA skirts the issue.