Welfare Rights Bulletin articles

(For subscribers) Carri Swann uses case examples to consider the implications of the new rules to let claimants try paid or voluntary work.

Simon Osborne looks at rules regarding the abolition of income-related employment and support allowance (ESA).

(For subscribers) Jessica Strode considers how jointly owned property not occupied as the home is valued for universal credit.

(For subscribers) Jun Pang discusses new rules in the Upper Tribunal to name social security claimants in its judgments.

(For subscribers) Because of the interaction of child elements with other rules, in some cases a newly awarded element for a third or subsequent child might not make as big a difference as for others. Mark Willis explains

Carri Swann explains who counts as a ‘pre-2026 claimant’ and therefore escapes the April 2026 cut to the amount of the UC LCWRA element.

(For subscribers) In most cases legacy benefits are formally abolished. But a few awards linger, at least for a while. Simon Osborne explains.

(For subscribers) Simon Osborne looks at the rule where a child can be entitled to the higher rate of the mobility component of disability living allowance (DLA) via the ‘severe mental impairment’ route.

(For subscribers) Martin Williams discusses the rules under which universal credit (UC) claimants can be treated as possessing capital which they no longer have.

‘Aids or appliances’ in personal independence payment (PIP) has widely been interpreted as excluding items that are commonly used in the same way by non-disabled people. A recent Upper Tribunal decision reached a different conclusion. Carri Swann looks at the reasoning behind the decision, and asks what it might mean for claimants.