Government disability payment delay ‘unlawful and unacceptable’
The Government took an “unlawful and unacceptably long time” to pay new welfare benefits to two unnamed disabled people, a High Court judge has ruled.
The judge was told at a recent hearing that vulnerable people have been forced to turn to loan sharks and food banks because of the delays in providing them with personal independence payments (Pips).
The payments are replacing the disability living allowance (DLA) in sweeping Government reforms of the benefits system. They are designed to help disabled adults meet the extra costs caused by disability.
Two claimants, Ms C and Mr W, asked Mrs Justice Patterson to declare that – because of the magnitude of the delay – Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith breached his common law and human rights duties to make payments within a reasonable time.
The judge ruled the delay in both cases was “not only unacceptable, as conceded by the defendant, but was unlawful”.
The judge said in Ms C’s case the delay was some 13 months, from September 9 2013 until the determination of her benefit on October 24 2014.
In Mr W’s case the delay was some ten months, from February 3 2014 until December 2014.
The judge said both cases had called for “expeditious consideration” as they both suffered significant disabilities.
She said: “They were each to be regarded as the most vulnerable people in society.”
The judge said: “There is a high duty on local authorities to act promptly, consistently and appropriately to recognise social welfare benefits.
“There can be no public interest in delays such as was the case here.”
Ms C, from Kent, has been diagnosed with ME and suffers from severe depression and other health problems.
Speaking last month, she said: “The delay had a massive impact on my life. I applied for Pips so I could look after myself, but without it I could barely eat and only ever left my house for a weekly trip to a supermarket.
“I was completely isolated during the nine months I was waiting for my payments. While my wait came to an end, it is worrying that many, many others have still not received a decision.”
Minister for Disabled People Justin Tomlinson said “decisive action” had now been taken to speed up payments.
He said: “We have taken decisive action to speed up Pip waiting times and we are pleased the court has recognised the huge progress made. The average new Pip claimant now waits only seven weeks for an assessment.
“The court has rightly dismissed the claimants’ absurd suggestion that their human rights had been breached. As a result, they are not entitled to damages.”
Joanna Kennedy from Z2K, a London-based charity campaigning against unfairness in the benefits system which intervened in the case, said: “We are delighted that Mrs Justice Patterson has deemed the delay in processing Pip claims both unreasonable and unlawful, at the same time as recognising the crippling hardship caused by such delays.
“It is, however, disappointing that she decided against treating the claimants as test cases.”
In her ruling, the judge said it would be “inappropriate” to grant a declaration in wider terms covering other cases of late payments “because of the considerable variations in individual circumstances”.
She added: “I do not think it is the role of the court to give guidance in a situation which has been evolving and with which the defendant now appears to be grappling in a way which is entirely appropriate.”
Elliot Dunster, speaking for the disability charity Scope, said: “This judgment demonstrates the importance of extra costs payments to disabled people.
“Life costs more if you are disabled. Scope research shows that this adds up to on average £550 per month.
“Extra costs can make it extremely hard for disabled people to pay the bills. Every day without them is another day unable to afford the essentials in life.
“It’s positive that delays have been dramatically reduced.
“As speculation grows about where the Chancellor will find his promised £12 billion savings from the welfare budget, disabled people are looking to him to protect the financial support they receive.”
Richard Kramer, from the national deafblind charity Sense, said: “The legal ruling gives a human face to the significant levels of stress and suffering felt by disabled people as a result of system delays.
“The case is a reminder that there is some way to go before the system can be regarded as fit for purpose and customer-facing for all disabled people.”
Anne-Marie Irwin, the specialist public lawyer at Irwin Mitchell who acted for the disabled claimants, described the ruling as “a significant legal judgment”.
She said: “A huge number of vulnerable people have been left in the lurch as a result of unacceptable flaws in the Pip system, with Public Accounts Committee chair Margaret Hodge in June last year calling the issues ‘nothing short of a fiasco’.
“In February 2014, the National Audit Office found that the defendant had not fully assessed performance before starting national rollout of the new claims in June 2013.
“Today’s decision sends a clear message that the unacceptable delays faced by many people may also be unlawful.
“While the decision is undoubtedly welcome and emphasises the clear failings seen with this scheme, attention must now turn to rethinking the planned wider rollout in October until reassurances can be provided that the delays seen in the past are not repeated in the future.”
Ms Irwin added: “We are now hoping to begin discussions with the DWP to establish a scheme to ensure anyone who experienced a delay which could be deemed unlawful is able to receive some form of effective redress without the need to take court action.”
In response to Ms Irwin’s comments, the DWP said: “Successful Pip claims are always backdated to the date of the claim, meaning that no-one who has experienced a delay should suffer financial loss as a result.”
Kate Green MP, Labour’s shadow minister for disabled people, described the court ruling as “a damning indictment on the Government’s failure to get a grip of benefit delays” which had forced “thousands of people to rely on food banks to survive”.
A union leader said the case had exposed Iain Duncan Smith as “brutal and unforgiving”.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said: “We pay tribute to the claimants but they should never have had to resort to the courts.
“Cases like this expose Iain Duncan Smith’s brutal, unforgiving and suspicious attitude to people who rely on social security and the failure of privatisation to offer the kind of help and support DWP staff want to provide.”
Downing Street acknowledged there had been “problems” in the early phase of the introduction of Pips.
The Prime Minister’s official spokeswoman said: “The Government has taken steps to address this, bringing in 800 more staff, increasing the number of health professionals working on it, and we are now starting to see progress.”
The court judgment is the latest setback for the DWP, which has also suffered from problems over the introduction of the Universal Credit, but No 10 said David Cameron “fully supports” the approach they had taken.
The spokeswoman said: “The department has a wide range of challenging policies and objectives to deliver, many of which are complex, and the PM fully supports the approach they have taken to look at where they can learn lessons and make changes to make more progress.
“The measures that they have brought in on Pip mean that claimants are now only waiting seven weeks for an assessment and the backlog is coming down.”
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