Manchester Welfare Rights Conference 2025

About this course

Our annual face to face conference in Manchester returns to thestudio Manchester, The Hive, 51 Lever Street, Manchester, M1 1FN on Wednesday 8 October 2025.  

If London is a more convenient location for you, this conference will also run there on Thursday 23 October 2025.

Join us this autumn in London or Manchester for our annual Welfare Rights Conference - a vital event for advisers navigating a time of renewed change in the benefits system.

Major changes to benefits, particularly for disabled people, are likely to bring uncertainty and concern – along with a significant loss of income for many vulnerable claimants. Advisers will need a comprehensive knowledge of the benefits system to support their clients and win the inevitable appeals.

CPAG’s annual conferences are a chance for you to understand how your clients will be affected and consider how your service should respond. Workshops led by our renowned experts will take a deep dive into the proposed changes, alongside other key topics that will be critical for giving accurate advice over the coming year. Our keynote speakers will examine the wider context and the future of the advice sector. 

As well as gaining essential updates, the conference offers a valuable opportunity to connect with fellow advisers, share experiences, and strengthen your professional network. With practical workshops and thought-provoking keynotes, you’ll leave with new insights, sharper skills, and a clearer understanding of how to navigate the challenges ahead. 

Programme 

You can attend two from a choice of four expert workshops, both selected at the time of booking. Once you have added your booking to the shopping cart, proceed to the checkout where you can select an AM and PM workshop.  

A conference ticket also includes refreshments, lunch and all conference materials, and access to recordings of all four workshops for a limited period after both conferences. 

Workshops 

Same PIP, different day – personal independence payment in 2025 

Carri Swann, welfare rights worker at CPAG 

Our annual PIP workshop is a practical refresher, covering the latest case law, guidance and DWP policies. This year, we will also be looking at the DWP’s Green Paper detailing its plans for PIP in 2026 and beyond.  

Advisers should come away up-to-date on PIP rules and processes and with some fresh ideas for challenging decisions – including decisions on PIP daily living under a possible future ‘four point rule’. 

• Case law round-up
• The latest on assessments and delays
• PIP daily living proposals and how to adapt our advice
• The ongoing Timms review  
• PIP and AI 

Tribunals and claimant credibility 

Simon Osborne, welfare rights adviser at CPAG 

First-tier Tribunals can disbelieve what a claimant tells them. They can also use their observations of the claimant during the hearing to inform their decision, including where that is to the claimant’s disadvantage. When can a tribunal do these things? What protections are available for claimants? What can representatives do?  

This workshop looks at:  

• The sceptical tribunal – rejecting evidence and drawing inferences from observations at the hearing 
• Case law from the Upper Tribunal 
• The role of the responsible rep  

What’s fairness got to do with it? Procedural Fairness in the First-tier Tribunal 

Martin Williams, welfare rights worker at CPAG 

Seeking to ensure that claimants pursuing benefit appeals have their cases decided fairly is a key role of a representative. This is important to ensure that the claimant has a chance to put forward their best possible case to maximise their chances of overturning incorrect decisions. A lack of procedural fairness is also a common ground of challenge in the Upper Tribunal against a First-tier Tribunal decision. 

This workshop will consider: 

• The legal sources of procedural fairness: What are the rules which seek to guarantee procedural fairness?
• The content of procedural fairness: What does it mean to have a case decided fairly (which is by no means the same thing as winning the case)?
• Procedural fairness in practice: How can representatives spot and hence seek to avoid potential procedural unfairness at every stage of the appeal process and identify where a tribunal decision has been made unfairly for appeals to the Upper Tribunal? 

It’s payback time! Or is it? Challenging universal credit overpayment recovery   

Jess Strode, welfare rights worker at CPAG 

All universal credit overpayments are recoverable, but the DWP does not have to recover in all cases.  

This workshop will consider: 

• What arguments you can make to request an overpayment not be recovered and what evidence to include – how to request a waiver
• What works in practice – reflections from CPAG’s judicial review project
• What to do if your client’s request is refused - a look at CPAG’s free resources 

Keynote speakers

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester

Andy Burnham was elected Mayor of Greater Manchester in May 2017, and was re-elected in May 2021. Prior to being Mayor, Andy was MP for Leigh from 2001. In Government he held Ministerial positions at the Home Office, Department of Health, and the Treasury. In 2008 he became Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, before returning to Health as Secretary of State in 2009. In opposition, Andy has served as Shadow Education Secretary, Shadow Health Secretary and Shadow Home Secretary.

Debbie Abrahams, Labour MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth

Debbie Abrahams is the Labour MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, and has been an MP continually since January 2011. Debbie was a member of the Work & Pensions Committee from June 2011 - 2015. In 2015 she was appointed as shadow Minister for Disabled People and in 2016 she was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. She currently holds the position of Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee. 

Polly Jones, Director of Communities at Trussell

Polly has over 25 years’ experience of policy, research and campaigns on poverty and inequality in the global south and across the UK, particularly in Scotland. She has worked for a wide range of charities, campaign groups and trade unions. Currently, Director of Communities for Trussell, an anti-poverty charity and network of food banks, Polly is dedicated to ending the need for charitable food aid.

Afternoon panel session

DWP's Pathways to Work Green Paper 2025

The conference will once again feature an afternoon panel session, with speakers this year turning their attention to the government’s March 2025 Green Paper and its implications for universal credit (UC), personal independence payment (PIP), contributory benefits and more. Speakers will provide clarity on the UC changes due in April 2025, consider the proposal to scrap the work capability assessment in 2028/9, and discuss what could be next for PIP after plans for a ‘four point rule’ were put on hold in July, among other topics. There will be the opportunity for questions. 

Speakers include:

• Sam Scarlett, welfare benefits trainer at CPAG
• Harriet Chaplin, welfare rights worker at CPAG
• Will Hadwen, trainer and welfare rights worker at CPAG and CPAG in Scotland
• Carri Swann, welfare rights adviser at CPAG

Location 

The conference will take place at thestudio Manchester, The Hive, 51 Lever Street, Manchester, M1 1FN. 

Useful information on travelling to the venue can be found here. 

thestudio has disabled access. Information on accessibility can be found here.

Exhibition space 

We will have an exhibition space hosting exhibitors showcasing their work, products and services. 

The exhibition package includes: 

• An exhibition table and access to the networking spaces for 2 people
• One delegate ticket with access to workshops  
• A profile added to the CPAG website and conference pack with your organisation information
• Lunch and refreshments for 2 people  

The cost of an exhibition package is £500 (plus VAT). Please note each additional person wishing to attend must book a separate delegate place. If you are interested in exhibiting at our conference please email [email protected]. 

Exhibitors at our Manchester Welfare Rights Conference 2025

“Excellent conference and excellent resources. Offers the ability to network and talk to likeminded professionals and it amazes me every time how much I come away having learned!”