Page 15 - Reforming Benefits Decision-Making

I. INTRODUCTION

“many aspects of the design and rollout of [Universal Credit] have suggested that
the Department for Work and Pensions is more concerned with making economic
savings and sending messages about lifestyles than responding to the multiple needs
of those living with a disability, job loss, housing insecurity, illness, and the
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demands of parenting.”
Background

1.1 The benefits decision-making system forms a huge part of the administrative
justice landscape in the United Kingdom however, the system is performing
poorly. Individuals often lack knowledge as to their possible entitlements; the
application process can be inaccessible and confusing; and many are
incorrectly denied benefits to which they are entitled, or have their benefits
stopped or reduced when they are wrongly sanctioned. Challenging
incorrectly made decisions is often stressful and lengthy and many individuals
give up when faced with a long fight for their entitlement. Being denied
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benefits can have a devastating impact on individuals’ and their families’
lives. It can plunge people into debt, forcing them to rely on food banks, result
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in eviction from their homes and exacerbate or create health issues. As a
result there is a fundamental lack of trust and confidence in the system.

1 P. Alston, ‘Statement on Visit to the United Kingdom by Professor Phillip Alston, United National
Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights’ (November 2018) p.5.
2 As explained in Chapter 3 there is a two-stage process to challenging a benefits decision: (i) an
internal review by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) (or Department for Communities in
Northern Ireland) called mandatory reconsideration; and if that is not successful claimants may (ii)
appeal to an independent tribunal. For example, since PIP was introduced in 2013, up to September
2020 4.2 million initial decisions have been made by the DWP. Mandatory reconsideration has been
requested in 965,260 or 23 per cent of cases. In 81 per cent (779,590) of cases the award has remained
unchanged following the mandatory reconsideration. However, only 379,630 claimants go on to lodge
an appeal after a mandatory reconsideration, despite the fact that 67 per cent of appeals that reach a
hearing our successful (Statistics do not include decisions made by the Department for Communities
which are recorded separately) (DWP, ‘Personal Independence Payment statistics to January 2021’,
Table 5A (March 2021)).
3 The Low Commission, Getting it right in social welfare law: the Low Commission’s follow-up report
(2015), G. McKeever, M. Simpson and C. Fitzpatrick, Destitution and Paths to Justice (The Legal

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