
DWP Central Freedom of Infor-
mation Team
Caxton House
6-12 Tothil Street
London
SW1H 9NA
Martin Williams
freedom-of-information-re-
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
xxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
DWP Website
Our Ref: FOI2024/84126 &
IR2024/93909
20 November 2024
Dear Martin Williams,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FoI) request received on 18 October. You wrote:
“In FOI2024/48114 the DWP disclosed that:
"Since 12/12/2022, in total the department has stayed 3080 AT lookalike cases and awarded
hardship payments to 14 customers since 31/01/2024. Previously stayed cases are now being
reviewed"
a. Please now release any management information or other data held which shows progress in
how many of the 3080 cases have now been reviewed and how many of those have resulted in
awards of benefit as a result of the application of AT.
b. Please also release any other management information or other data which shows how many
times in total the application of AT has resulted in a benefit award (not just for the backlog but in
ongoing decision making in new cases)- if that information is held per month then please
release it in that format rather than as a total”
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FoI) internal review request received on 18 Novem-
ber relating to FOI2024/84126. You wrote:
“I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's han-
dling of my FOI request 'Progress on dealing with cases in which decision making paused due
to AT litigation and wait for guidance'.
The normal deadline for reply was 15/11/2024. I have thus far not received a reply other than an
acknowledgement of my request.”
DWP Response
In response to your internal review request, we can confirm that the handling of your original re-
quest and response has now been appropriately reviewed by someone unconnected with the
handling of your original request.
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As a result of this review, we find that the original decision was not correct and as such your
complaint is upheld. We apologise and acknowledge that in this instance we have not met our
obligation as required under section 10(1) of the Freedom of Information Act as we did not pro-
vide a response within 20 working days.
We confirm that we hold some of the information you have requested.
a. We can confirm that 3079 stayed cases have now been reviewed. The Department does
not differentiate between stayed cases and new claims which have been awarded benefit
as a result of the application of
AT, and so is unable to provide a breakdown on those
parameters.
b. A total of 97 claimants are in receipt of a benefit award as a result of the application of
AT.
The Department does not break these numbers down by month and so is only able to
provide a total number.
If you have any queries about this letter, please contact us quoting the reference number above.
Yours sincerely,
Central FoI Team
Department for Work and Pensions
Your right to complain under the Freedom of Information Act
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review you may apply directly to the Infor-
mation Commissioner’s Of ice for a decision. Generally, the Commissioner cannot make a deci-
sion unless you have exhausted our own complaints procedure. The Information Commissioner
can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Of ice, Wyclif e House, Water Lane,
Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Web:
ICO FOI and EIR complaints or telephone 0303 123 1113
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