Disabled boy’s family win landmark Disability Living Allowance case

By The Press Association8th July 2015News EnglandBenefits, Cystic Fibrosis, Disabilities, News England, Welfare / Benefits

A family whose severely disabled son’s Disability Living Allowance state benefit was taken away while he was in hospital have won a landmark battle against the Government at the UK’s highest court.

The father of cystic fibrosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy sufferer Cameron Mathieson – who died aged five in 2012 – went to the Supreme Court to challenge a regulation that suspends the Disability Living Allowance (DLA) after a child’s first 84 days in hospital.

At the heart of the case was a 2010 decision by the Work and Pensions Secretary to suspend Cameron’s DLA on grounds that he had been an inpatient at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool for more than 84 days.

Five justices in London unanimously allowed an appeal by dad Craig Mathieson, of Warrington, Cheshire, who carried on the legal battle after his son’s death against the “grossly unfair” rule.

The Supreme Court announced it was setting aside the Secretary of State’s decision and “substitutes the decision that Cameron Mathieson was entitled to continued payment of DLA with effect from October 6 2010”.

Cameron was born on June 19 2007 and died on October 12 2012.

He was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis and muscular dystrophy soon after he was born.

Supreme Court judges said his parents went to great lengths to meet his exceptional and complex needs during his short life.

On July 4 2010, Cameron was admitted to Alder Hey for symptoms of chronic bowel obstruction, and remained there as an inpatient until August 4 2011.

During his stay, one or other of his parents was present in the hospital at all times and remained his primary caregivers, the Supreme Court said.

DLA regulations provide that a child under 16 will cease to receive the state benefit after the 84th day of his or her admission as an inpatient in an NHS hospital.

On November 3 2010, the Secretary of State decided that Cameron’s DLA should be suspended effective from October 6 that year.

The family continued to receive other benefits, but the suspension of DLA from October 2010 to August 2011 amounted to a loss of about £7,000.

The justices said that although Mr Mathieson invited the court to “disapply” the provisions for the suspension of DLA in the case of children, they declined to do so, “leaving it to the Secretary of State to decide what measures should be taken to avoid the violation of the rights of disabled children such as Cameron following their 84th day in hospital”.

Children’s charities described the ruling as an “incredible victory” for the “ordinary family of a disabled child who took on the Government and won”.

They said the decision will have a “significant impact” on the estimated 500 families with severely disabled children who spend time in hospital undergoing treatment.

Contact a Family and The Children’s Trust said they are now calling for the Government to urgently act on the court’s ruling – to “issue guidance to ensure that similar unlawful decisions are not made and scrap the rule that says that DLA should be suspended when a child has been in hospital for more than 84 days once and for all”.

In a joint statement, Amanda Batten, chief executive officer of Contact a Family and Dalton Leong, chief executive officer of The Children’s Trust, said: “Today’s Supreme Court judgment is an absolutely incredible and a groundbreaking victory for the Mathieson family, who have fought tirelessly on behalf of some of the most severely disabled children in the UK who require hospital treatment.

“We are delighted that the Supreme Court has recognised that it is unfair and unlawful to remove the main disability benefit for children – Disability Living Allowance (DLA) – from families of the most sick and disabled children when they need it most.

“The judgment shows that the court understands that many parents provide extra care that even the best equipped hospitals can’t give and have substantial costs – such as loss of earnings, travel and meal expenses, parking fees and childcare costs for siblings – as a result.

“This is great news for families of disabled children across the UK. The welfare system should be there to protect families when they are at their most vulnerable.

“We now call on the Government to urgently act on today’s judgment and scrap this unfair rule once and for all. Families affected by the rule should seek advice about using this judgment to ask that their DLA payments restart.”

“We would like to extend our gratitude and heartfelt thanks to the Mathieson family who have fought tirelessly, not for their own benefit, but for the other hundreds of families affected each year.”