PR v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions & Anor
[2023] UKUT 34 (AAC)
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v PL
22 November 2023
[2023] UKUT 288 (AAC)
Upper Tribunal
A man applied for Universal Credit while still getting other benefits that should have blocked his UC application. A lower court wrongly tried to give him a different benefit instead. A higher court corrected this, stating there was no legal way to do that. The man's Universal Credit application failed.
Key Facts
- •Claimant received IRESA and housing benefit including SDP until September 2019.
- •Claimant was remanded in custody, resulting in IRESA cessation.
- •Claimant made a UC claim in December 2019 after release from custody.
- •DWP awarded UC, but claimant disputed the amount and lack of SDP.
- •FTT allowed the appeal, stating the UC claim should be treated as an IRESA claim.
- •The Secretary of State appealed this FTT decision.
Legal Principles
Regulation 4A(1) of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014 (SDP Gateway) prevented UC claims by those entitled to SDP in an existing benefit.
Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014
A claim for UC cannot be treated as a claim for IRESA; there's no statutory basis for such conversion.
Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987 & Universal Credit, PIP, JSA and ESA (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2013
A claimant must make a claim for a benefit to be entitled to it. Misadvice does not invalidate a DWP decision, though it may be grounds for compensation.
Social Security Administration Act 1992, section 1
A legal error in a decision does not render it void; it's open to revision but not automatically transformed into a different benefit.
None explicitly stated, but implied throughout the discussion of the FTT's error.
The Upper Tribunal can set aside and remake a FTT decision if it contains an error of law.
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, section 12(2)(a) and (b)(ii)
Outcomes
The Upper Tribunal allowed the Secretary of State's appeal.
The FTT's decision to treat the UC claim as an IRESA claim was an error of law due to the lack of statutory basis for such a conversion and because the claimant did not make a new claim for IRESA.
The FTT's decision was set aside and remade.
The Upper Tribunal remade the decision, dismissing the claimant's appeal, as there was no legal basis for granting IRESA retrospectively.