Caselaw summaries

Universal credit (UC) – student income

Tribunals and personal independence payment (PIP) – claimant diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and significant social anxiety

Evidence – observations of claimant at hearing – claimant should have opportunity to address inferences

Universal credit (UC) - housing element – size criteria – whether student at university a non-dependant

Failure to explore what evidence was available – failure to consider adjournment

Universal credit (UC) - responsibility for child – shared care – rule allocating responsibility to person with main responsibility not discriminatory

‘Salary sacrifice’ – whether earnings for income-related employment and support allowance (ESA)

Tribunals – breach of natural justice

Activity 3 (managing therapy or monitoring a health condition) – prescribed compression stockings are ‘therapy’ for purposes of the activity and tribunal should have considered whether any of the descriptors in it applied as a result of the claimant’s difficulties in putting on and taking off the stockings

Request for statement of reasons – tribunal directed appointee for the claimant to repeat the request even though it had been made on time, warned failure to comply could result in the application being struck out, and ‘gave the appearance – over 11 paragraphs – of seeking to dissuade the appointee from seeking a statement of reasons’