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http://disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2...a-court-appeal
04 December 2013
The Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling which found that the process used to decide whether hundreds of thousands of people are eligible for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) disadvantages people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and autism.
The original judgment, which was made public at an Upper Tribunal hearing in May this year, was the result of a Judicial Review brought by two anonymous claimants with mental health problems. For more information on this see the judgment
(MM & DM v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions [2013] UKUT 0259 (AAC) - JR/2638/2012 and JR/2639/2012) and the Public Law Project press release.
The upper tribunal three judge panel ruled that the WCA substantially disadvantages claimants with mental health problems because – while the system is designed to deal with claimants who can accurately report the way in which their disability affects their fitness to work – claimants with mental health problems have a number of specific difficulties in self-reporting.
For example, they may lack insight into their condition, their condition may fluctuate day by day, or they may be unable to accurately explain how it affects them.
As a result, the court said that it is especially important for the DWP and Atos assessors to take medical evidence from applicants’ community health professionals, such as psychiatrists or community psychiatric nurses, and that unless the system was adapted to take medical evidence into account at the early stages of the process it would be unfair to people with mental health problems.
The three judges therefore ordered that the DWP has to take reasonable steps to address the disadvantage to people with mental health problems. However, rather than specifying what those reasonable steps should be, they directed that DWP carry out an investigation and then return to court to explain what steps they propose to take.
Instead the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) immediately appealed against the judgment and the Judicial Review was put on hold. Now that the DWP has lost their appeal, the Judicial Review will continue. A final judgment is expected next year unless the DWP decide to take the case to the Supreme Court.
For more information see the Rethink press release.
You can view the Court of Appeal judgment, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v MM & Anor [2013] EWCA Civ 1565, athttp://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2013/1565.html
http://disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2...a-court-appeal
04 December 2013
The Court of Appeal has upheld a ruling which found that the process used to decide whether hundreds of thousands of people are eligible for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) disadvantages people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and autism.
The original judgment, which was made public at an Upper Tribunal hearing in May this year, was the result of a Judicial Review brought by two anonymous claimants with mental health problems. For more information on this see the judgment
(MM & DM v Secretary of State for Work & Pensions [2013] UKUT 0259 (AAC) - JR/2638/2012 and JR/2639/2012) and the Public Law Project press release.
The upper tribunal three judge panel ruled that the WCA substantially disadvantages claimants with mental health problems because – while the system is designed to deal with claimants who can accurately report the way in which their disability affects their fitness to work – claimants with mental health problems have a number of specific difficulties in self-reporting.
For example, they may lack insight into their condition, their condition may fluctuate day by day, or they may be unable to accurately explain how it affects them.
As a result, the court said that it is especially important for the DWP and Atos assessors to take medical evidence from applicants’ community health professionals, such as psychiatrists or community psychiatric nurses, and that unless the system was adapted to take medical evidence into account at the early stages of the process it would be unfair to people with mental health problems.
The three judges therefore ordered that the DWP has to take reasonable steps to address the disadvantage to people with mental health problems. However, rather than specifying what those reasonable steps should be, they directed that DWP carry out an investigation and then return to court to explain what steps they propose to take.
Instead the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) immediately appealed against the judgment and the Judicial Review was put on hold. Now that the DWP has lost their appeal, the Judicial Review will continue. A final judgment is expected next year unless the DWP decide to take the case to the Supreme Court.
For more information see the Rethink press release.
You can view the Court of Appeal judgment, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions v MM & Anor [2013] EWCA Civ 1565, athttp://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2013/1565.html
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