Tribunal Stipulations.

Hi,

Speaking a few days ago to a local welfare rights adviser, he informed me that the local tribunal have become that sick of seeing the same people returning to appeal Atos/DWP assessments and subsequently win their appeals at tribunal and then get reassessed by Atos and submit another appeal etc etc..... They are stipulating to the DWP that these persons are not to be reviewed/reassessed for at least 12 months.

Anyone else heard of this situation.

Sunbeam75

sunbeam75 wrote:

Hi,

Speaking a few days ago to a local welfare rights adviser, he informed me that the local tribunal have become that sick of seeing the same people returning to appeal Atos/DWP assessments and subsequently win their appeals at tribunal and then get reassessed by Atos and submit another appeal etc etc..... They are stipulating to the DWP that these persons are not to be reviewed/reassessed for at least 12 months.

Anyone else heard of this situation.

Sunbeam75

Yes s75, you are correct.

This is a fairly recent developement, in that the Tribunals have started making such recommendations.

However, they are only recommendations, so whether or not the DWP/ATOS will abide by them, will only become apparent in the future.

bro58

sunbeam75 wrote:

Hi,

Speaking a few days ago to a local welfare rights adviser, he informed me that the local tribunal have become that sick of seeing the same people returning to appeal Atos/DWP assessments and subsequently win their appeals at tribunal and then get reassessed by Atos and submit another appeal etc etc..... They are stipulating to the DWP that these persons are not to be reviewed/reassessed for at least 12 months.

Anyone else heard of this situation.

Sunbeam75

As a former DLA Tribunal Member, in my opinion a Tribunal cannot stipulate when appellants
are reviewed or reassessed as it is beyond their remit. A Tribunal's role is to decide whether or not an appeal is successful or not, end of story. The majority of Social Security Tribunal Members are part-time Judicial Office Holders appointed by the Dept of Justice so they cannot dictate to the DWP or Atos when appellants should be reviewed/reassessed.

The role of a Tribunal from the Ministry of Justice :

"To bring together the parties to the appeal, and the judiciary, with all appropriate resources for the fair and independent delivery of decisions. We will do this in a way that best meets the expectations of all parties to the appeal and the demands of the public purse."

Jim Allison wrote:

As a former DLA Tribunal Member, in my opinion a Tribunal cannot stipulate when appellants are reviewed or reassessed as it is beyond their remit.

Appeal tribunals hearing DLA appeals do in fact decide on the length of the award, ie whether it be for two years, five years or an indefinite award, where the appeal is upheld in favour of the appellant.

I haven't heard anything about appeal tribunals recommending a date for a reassessment of an ESA award, but in my opinion in the same way as they can determine the length of a DLA award, they should be allowed over and above a "recommendation" to decide when a claimant should have their ESA award reviewed. This of course would prevent the farcical situation as indicated in the previous post where an appellant wins their appeal, only to find that they are immediately subjected to the WCA again.

Somehow, I don't think the government would entertain such a sensible proposal!

Hi,

See the following threads regarding this issue on rightsnet :

www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/2787/P0/

&

www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/3520/

bro58