benefits – Page 15 – Current Awareness

There are sound reasons to oppose a ‘love tax’ – once again the Lords is our best protection – The Independent

Posted January 27th, 2016 in benefits, families, news, parliament by sally

‘The background to stories of conflict between the two Houses of Parliament has changed during our lifetime. A generation ago, unelected members of the Upper House were notorious for streaming into London from their country seats to vote in vast numbers in favour of reactionary measures like the notorious poll tax, from which they stood to gain handsomely.’

The Independent, 26th January 2016

Source: www.independent.co.uk

‘Going into legal aid work now is career suicide’ – The Guardian

Posted January 6th, 2016 in benefits, budgets, debts, domestic violence, gangs, housing, law firms, legal aid, legal profession, Ministry of Justice, news, paralegals, statistics, victims by sally

‘Government cuts to legal aid means social welfare lawyers are a dying breed. So where will the next generation come from? Step up the Justice First Fellowship.’

The Guardian, 6th January 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Samuels v Birmingham City Council – WLR Daily

Posted November 13th, 2015 in benefits, homelessness, housing, law reports, remuneration by tracey

Samuels v Birmingham City Council: [2015] EWCA Civ 1051; [2015] WLR (D) 435

‘For the purposes of a person’s application for housing assistance as a homeless person, where a local authority was determining whether that person’s previous accommodation was affordable for that person and therefore whether it would be, or would have been, reasonable for that person to continue to occupy that accommodation, the local authority was to take into account all forms of the person’s income, including social security benefits of all kinds, and of relevant expenses, so that a judgment was to be made on the basis of income and relevant expenses as a whole. Benefits income, including income support, child tax credits and child benefit, was not to have any special status or treatment in that exercise or to be excluded from income which could be taken into account as income which could assist with housing costs.’

WLR Daily, 27th October 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Affordability and intentionality – adding it up – Nearly Legal

Posted November 9th, 2015 in appeals, benefits, budgets, codes of practice, housing, learning difficulties, local government, news, rent by sally

‘A second appeal from a s.204 County Court appeal that addressed the council’s decision-making on whether the property from which Ms Samuels had become homeless was affordable (and thus, whether she was intentionally homeless for failing to pay the full rent).’

Nearly Legal, 8th November 2015

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Whether the right to reside test complies with EU law when applied to ‘family benefits’ – Garden Court Chambers Blog

Posted October 21st, 2015 in benefits, EC law, families, immigration, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘Desmond Rutledge considers the Advocate General’s Opinion (C-308/14) on the EU Commission’s action against the United Kingdom’s use of the right to reside test.’

Garden Court Chambers Blog, 20th October 2015

Source: www.gclaw.wordpress.com

Austerity and Public Law: Jed Meers: The Localism-and-Austerity Hybrid: The Case of Discretionary Housing Payments – UK Constitutional Law Association

Posted October 21st, 2015 in benefits, bills, budgets, housing, local government, news, rent by sally

‘In 2001, a small scale form of discretionary support was introduced to assist those on housing benefit who were unable to afford their rent: discretionary housing payments (DHPs). The numbers of awards were modest, reaching approximately 2,000 in 2002/3, and representing just £21million of expenditure per annum as recently as 2008/9 (source). This same scheme – administered by Local Authorities – now makes more than 390,000 awards per annum and the July budget of 2015 has allocated £800million for their use across the course of this Parliament.’

UK Constitutional Law Association, 21st October 2015

Source: www.ukconstitutionallaw.org

Former police officer jailed for illegally claiming benefits – The Guardian

Posted October 19th, 2015 in benefits, fraud, news, sentencing by sally

‘A former policeman who worked in Tony Blair’s protection force has been jailed for illegally claiming more than £55,000 in benefits, which he used to fund holidays and a private-school education for his children.’

The Guardian, 16th October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Is it Getting Chilly in Here? – Panopticon

Posted October 7th, 2015 in benefits, freedom of information, news, tribunals by sally

‘It has been an admirable trend of Tribunals in FOIA cases over the last few years that they have been increasingly sceptical of assertions on the part of public authorities that disclosure will provide chilling effects on their activities. An inevitable pattern forms of an insistence that the sky will fall in if information is released, information is released (or leaked), and the sky appears not to fall in. Government grinds on. But Judge Jacobs has provided a little more comfort for such arguments in DWP v Information Commissioner, Slater & Collins [2015] UKUT 535 (AAC). The case related to various risk register documents related to Universal Credit.’

Panopticon, 7th October 2015

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

UK’s discriminatory migrant residence tests are legal – preliminary EU ruling – The Guardian

Posted October 7th, 2015 in benefits, domicile, EC law, immigration, news by sally

‘The practice of discriminating against EU migrants in the UK by subjecting them to a residence test for benefit payments is legal, according to a preliminary European court ruling.’

The Guardian, 6th October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Gay man loses fight to secure equal pension rights for husband – The Guardian

Posted October 6th, 2015 in appeals, benefits, civil partnerships, equality, human rights, news, pensions, sexual orientation discrimination by sally

‘A gay man has lost his appeal court bid to win his husband the same pension rights a wife would enjoy if he was in a heterosexual relationship.’

The Guardian, 6th October 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Court of Appeal set to rule in landmark case on pension benefits affecting surviving civil partners – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 6th, 2015 in appeals, benefits, civil partnerships, equality, news, pensions, sexual orientation discrimination by sally

‘The Court of Appeal in London is set to determine what pension benefits surviving civil partners are entitled to receive when their spouse dies in a landmark judgment due out on Tuesday.’

OUT-LAW.com, 5th October 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Depressed man killed himself as a direct result of DWP’s ‘fit to work’ ruling, coroner finds – The Independent

Posted September 21st, 2015 in benefits, disabled persons, inquests, mental health, news, suicide by sally

‘A coroner has concluded for the first time that a man with severe mental illness killed himself as a direct result of being found “fit to work” by the Government’s outsourced disability assessors.’

The Independent, 20th September 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Man who posed as legal adviser jailed after trading standards prosecution – Local Government Lawyer

Posted August 26th, 2015 in benefits, fraud, guilty pleas, McKenzie friends, news, sentencing by sally

‘A Biggleswade man who made more than £5,000 after advertising his services as a professional McKenzie friend has been jailed for three years after being found guilty of multiple trading standards and housing benefits offences.’

Local Government Lawyer, 21st August 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Bigamist jailed after cheating dying wife out of £30,000 in benefits – The Guardian

Posted August 26th, 2015 in benefits, bigamy, news, obtaining property by deception, sentencing by sally

‘A lorry driver has been jailed for cheating his terminally ill wife out of £30,000 of incapacity benefits and committing bigamy by marrying a new bride on their wedding anniversary.’

The Guardian, 25th August 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Emily Thornberry MP – Human rights conventions: when some are more equal than others? – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted August 24th, 2015 in appeals, benefits, bills, children, human rights, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘When a legal challenge to one of the coalition Government’s flagship welfare reforms – an overall cap of £26,000 per year on the amount any family could receive in benefits – was reviewed by the Supreme Court earlier this year, the resulting judgment left many observers scratching their heads. Had the Court declared the cap unlawful or not? The answer seemed to be a mixture of yes and no.’

UK Human Rights Blog, 24th August 2015

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

Famished woman fined £330 for stealing a 75p pack of Mars Bars after benefits stopped – The Independent

Posted August 17th, 2015 in benefits, fines, news, theft by sally

‘A woman has been fined £330 for stealing a 75p pack of Mars Bars after her benefits were stopped.’
Full story

The Independent, 14th August 2015

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Council criticised over refusal of direct payments based on Working Time Regulations – Local Government Lawyer

Posted August 11th, 2015 in benefits, carers, disabled persons, local government, news, ombudsmen, personal injuries, reports, social security, working time by sally

‘A council has admitted wrongly using the Working Time Regulations to refuse the direct payments they assessed a young man as needing, following an investigation by the Local Government Ombudsman.’

Local Government Lawyer, 6th August 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Watchdog asks DWP for ‘objective and impartial’ sanctions statements – The Guardian

Posted August 10th, 2015 in benefits, complaints, government departments, news, ombudsmen, sanctions, statistics by sally

‘The UK statistics watchdog has asked the Department for Work and Pensions to ensure its statements on jobseeker sanctions are “objective and impartial” following a series of complaints by leading experts.’

The Guardian, 7th August 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

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