(The Secretary of State for
Work and Pensions): Last week I came to the House
to answer an Urgent Question regarding two PIP appeals to the
Upper Tribunal (known as AN and JM) that I had withdrawn. I was
unable to comment on a related case that was pending an appeal to
the Court of Appeal (known as LB) as it concerned ongoing
litigation, and I committed to updating the House at the earliest
opportunity on this case when I was able to do so.
I carefully considered this appeal and have decided to not
continue with it in order to provide certainty to the claimant
involved. The March 2017 amending regulations (Regulations 2(2)
and (3) of the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment)
(Amendment) Regulations 2017) clarified the Department’s position
on PIP Daily Living Activity 3 (managing a therapy or monitoring
a health condition) and therefore further litigation is
unnecessary.
On Wednesday 13th June I received confirmation
that the Court of Appeal had consented to my Department’s
application to withdraw the appeal in the LB case, and I am
pleased to confirm the claimant will be receiving arrears of
benefit as soon as possible.
My Department has now begun work to apply the law as stated by
the Upper Tribunal in LB and will take all steps necessary to
implement it in the best interests of all affected claimants for
the period 28 November 2016 (the date of the Upper Tribunal
decision in LB) to 16 March 2017 (when the amendment to activity
3 came into force). This work will include a review exercise
later in the year. We expect that around 1,000 claimants will be
affected.
I am absolutely committed to ensuring that disabled people and
people with health conditions get the right support they need.
PIP is a modern, personalised benefit that assesses claimants on
needs, not conditions. It continues to be a better benefit than
its predecessor DLA for claimants with chronic conditions. This
Government is spending over £50bn a year supporting people with
disabilities and health conditions – this is higher than ever
before.
