Welfare Rights Bulletin articles

The abolition of the two-child limit is a welcome victory in the fight against child poverty. Those who have been or would have been affected by the limit will be much better protected. That said, because of the interaction of child elements with other rules, in some cases a newly awarded element for a third or subsequent child might not make as big a difference as for others. Mark Willis explains.

Martin Williams discusses the rules under which universal credit (UC) claimants can be treated as possessing capital which they no longer have.

Simon Osborne looks at the rule where a child can be entitled to the higher rate of the mobility component of disability living allowance (DLA) via the ‘severe mental impairment’ route.

‘Aids or appliances’ in personal independence payment (PIP) has widely been interpreted as excluding items that are commonly used in the same way by non-disabled people. A recent Upper Tribunal decision reached a different conclusion. Carri Swann looks at the reasoning behind the decision, and asks what it might mean for claimants.

Carri Swann considers recent caselaw on how working can affect personal independence payment (PIP).

Mark Willis looks at rules on children and qualifying young persons in child benefit and universal credit (UC).

Martin Williams considers the recent clarification of the law, by a three-judge panel of the Upper Tribunal (UT), concerning appeal rights where a claimant has unsuccessfully applied for revision on the ground of official error.

Major changes have been made to official plans to reform personal independence payment (PIP) and health-related elements in universal credit (UC), and in related areas such as assessments. Susan Mitchell and Simon Osborne describe where we are now.

Martin Williams considers procedural fairness in the tribunal system.

Some universal credit (UC) rules regarding work-related activity requirements affect claimants in different ways depending on the levels of certain thresholds. These thresholds should be set by reference to a claimant’s ‘expected hours’. Owen Stevens examines the rules on expected hours.