Advice hacks

A combination of cuts and rising demand mean that time is a scarce resource for welfare rights advisers dealing with DWP benefits. Owen Stevens sets out various time-saving ‘hacks’ to help advisers achieve results quickly and efficiently.

Being familiar with the DWP’s consent rules will help advisers to advocate on their clients’ behalf even if the claimant is not present. It is worth bookmarking the relevant guidance and having it open when calling the DWP so that it can be easily referenced during the call if needed.

Explicit consent guidance is used for universal credit (UC).1gov.uk/guidance/universal-credit-consent-and-disclosure-of-information; note that, at the time of writing, internal UC ‘consent and disclosure’ guidance includes a change made in January 2024 regarding the length of consent, which does not appear to have been included in the main guidance, rightsnet.org.uk/resources/universal-credit-guidance. Alternative enquiry rules (formerly known as ‘implicit consent’) are used in all other cases.2gov.uk/government/publications/working-with-representatives-guidance-for-dwp-staff/working-with-representatives-guidance-for-dwp-staff

Using conference calling can be a useful way to gain consent from a client even if the client is not present. Many office phones and mobile phones have this function and becoming familiar with conference calling can help avoid lengthy delays in gaining consent by other means.

Communicating a client’s complex needs to the DWP may help to ensure that services are provided in a more accessible manner and avoid problems arising in future. Some advice services have attempted to systematise this process by providing clients with forms with which to notify the DWP of their needs. The DWP should identify and make reasonable disability adjustments – in practice, claimants should request specific adjustments where appropriate. Where there is a risk of harm to a claimant, then this should be made explicit to the DWP and, where appropriate, a request made to refer the case to a DWP advanced customer support senior leader (ACSSL) (where serious harm occurs, advisers should request that DWP carry out an internal process review3Criteria for the referral and acceptance of IPRs are set out in the DWP Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023, gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-annual-report-and-accounts-2022-to-2023).

It is also important to highlight complex needs and vulnerabilities to tribunals, in advance of the hearing whenever possible.4See ‘Cross-examined’? How the tribunal asks questions; and Vulnerable tribunals?

The DWP may be able to provide a claimant with extra assistance.5gov.uk/extra-help-benefits-pension The DWP’s visiting service can assist clients who need help with their claim or award, either at home or elsewhere – eg, in hospital. They can assist with submitting claims, verifying information, or in making vulnerability checks prior to certain decisions. Some advice organisations are able to refer claimants to the DWP’s visiting service.6gov.uk/support-visit-benefit-claim Depending on the context, the use of DWP home visiting may help to maximise a claimant’s entitlement – eg, by protecting a UC claimant’s date of claim.

Advisers should identify and cultivate local partnership contacts within the DWP. These provide an easy way to achieve quick fixes to straightforward problems. Contacts for local partnership managers should be available via the DWP’s national partnership team.7gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-partnerships Internal escalation contacts for some DWP teams and for ACSSLs are available via Rightsnet.8rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/15574 Chapter 20 of CPAG’s Mental Health and Benefits Handbook includes a useful section on escalation contacts.9Free to read on CPAG Welfare Rights Chapter 20: Support, escalation and third parties

Having incomplete information about a case can make it very difficult to provide effective advice and advisers can waste time addressing issues which turn out to be irrelevant. Advisers can help to avoid this by providing claimants with instructions on how to provide complete and relevant information – eg, by providing information about how to download relevant information from the online UC account.10CPAG has produced a free tool to help advisers produce instructions for clients on how to download relevant information: cpag.org.uk/universal-credit-account-info

Advisers can also make use of subject access requests (or ‘right of access requests’).11gov.uk/guidance/request-your-personal-information-from-the-department-for-work-and-pensions These can help to access information which is not available to the claimant, including – usefully – internal notes made by DWP staff (and visible only to DWP staff) on the claimant’s journal, including notes of telephone conversations. This can often be vital for piecing together the decision-making history where the record available to the claimant is, or appears to be, incomplete.

Another important tool for use in appropriate circumstances is requesting the use of the so-called ‘Kerr duty’ – ie, for all parties to co-operate in gathering relevant information.12See paras 61-63 Kerr v Department for Social Development [2002] NICA 31 and [2004] UKHL 23, publications. parliament.uk/pa/ld200304/ldjudgmt/jd040506/kerr-1.htm Where information is not available (or not safely available) to the claimant but is available to the DWP, then the department should make its own inquiries, perhaps by contacting HMRC (eg, for employment and tax records) or a local authority – eg, for council tax records of past addresses. Chapter 20 of CPAG’s Benefits for Migrants Handbook includes a useful section on the Kerr duty.13Available with a subscription on CPAG Welfare Rights Chapter 20, 1. General points about evidence

A common problem is that clients are promised that something will happen within a set time, but that the deadline is missed. This, and other appropriate situations, may be something which could be effectively addressed with use of the DWP complaints system. If complaints are not responded to within the time in which clients have been told to expect a response, or within a shorter time where reasonable (eg, if urgent and the reasons for urgency have been explained to the DWP), then complaints should be promptly escalated to the next stage of the complaints process (including, if appropriate, to the Independent Case Examiner).

Of course, complaints should never be pursued in place of pursuing mandatory reconsideration and appeal but, where appropriate, complaints can be made while also pursuing those other options. Contact information for complaints is available on gov.uk.14gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/complaints-procedure. A webform is available as an option for ‘new-style’ JSA and UC complaints.

Becoming familiar with the social security decision-making framework will make a huge difference for advisers in understanding the cases they are presented with, avoiding unnecessary and irrelevant diversions, and in advocating effectively on their clients’ behalf. Advisers may wish to read R(IB) 2/04, an often-cited Tribunal of Commissioners case that contains a detailed discussion of the decision-making structure (particularly paragraphs 5–82).15administrativeappeals.decisions.tribunals.gov.uk/aspx/view.aspx?id=1262 Advisers may also wish to look at Chapter 50 of CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook, and attend CPAG’s ‘Challenging decisions – understanding decisions, revisions and supersessions’ training course.