DWP failure to apply decision in MJ v SSWP on erosion of transitional element when claimant's carer element ends because they are awarded LCWRA

Use this template if all of the following apply:

• your client was awarded UC before 29/01/2025 following receipt of a migration notice
• your client’s UC included a carer element and a transitional element (TE)
• after 29/01/2025 your client was diagnosed as terminally ill and notified the DWP
• the LCWRA element was awarded, but this caused their carer element to stop and their TE to be eroded in full and as a result they are now worse off
• your client has requested a revision of the decision, and no response has been received

This letter assumes (so can be edited if it does not apply) that your client:

• is single
• has cancer

Do not use this letter if:

• your client has not already requested a mandatory reconsideration
   

The main legal arguments in this template are:

• In MJ v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2025] UKUT 035 (AAC), decided on 29/01/2025, Upper Tribunal Judge West found that the Secretary of State's erosion of the whole TE of a carer following the award of LCWRA element was a breach of Convention rights. Failure to apply the decision in MJ renders SSWP’s decision discriminatory.
• SSWP is under a duty to consider all claims for benefit within a “reasonable time” – R(C and W) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2015] EWHC 1607 (Admin). 29. The duty to make a decision within a reasonable time applies equally to s.9 of the Social Security Act 1998 (“SSA 1998”) under which shall the Secretary of State may revise a decision, as it does to decisions under s.8 under which the Secretary of State  shall “decide any claim for a relevant benefit”. What counts as a reasonable time depends on the circumstances, including the impact on the claimant and the complexity of the case. The claimant is terminally ill and the issue is straightforward.

Information about your client:

• name
• address
• national insurance number
• date of birth

Background facts relating to your client, such as:

• details of your client’s health, and their caring responsibilities
• date your client claimed and was awarded universal credit
• date your client was diagnosed as terminally ill and how and when this was notified to DWP
• the impact of the reduction in UC on your client.

Information relating to the decision:

• date of the decision eroding your client’s transitional element
• date of your client’s mandatory reconsideration request
• exactly what DWP have said and when 
   

We've created this guide to help you successfully use our judicial review pre-action letter templates: Guide to using CPAG's judicial review pre-action letter templates

Once you've finished your letter, please email it to us at: [email protected] before you send it to the lawyers acting for DWP/HMRC/your local authority. We'll try to reply as quickly as possible and will do so within 7 days.