Time limit of 42 days for the DWP and HMRC to respond to appeals should be introduced without delay

AJTC report says that it is unacceptable to expect claimants to 'put up with ever longer delays'

18 March, 2011

A time limit of 42 days for the DWP and HMRC to respond to appeals should be introduced without delay, according to the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council (AJTC).

In his forward to 'Time for Action - A report on the absence of a time limit for decision makers to respond to social security appeals', AJTC Chair Richard Thomas highlights that delays are currently running at their highest levels - due largely to the high numbers of appeals against decisions on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) - and says that the situation is likely to deteriorate further in the future with the migration of incapacity benefits claimant to ESA and as a result of the proposed longer term welfare reforms.

Mr Thomas goes on to say -

'It is unacceptable to expect DWP customers simply to put up with ever longer delays to get their appeals heard in order, in many cases, to obtain the benefits they should have received from the outset of their claim. Never was the old legal maxim 'justice delayed is justice denied' more apt. The AJTC believes that the time has come to consider ways of streamlining the decision making and appeals process to ensure that only those cases that need to go to an appeal do so, and at the earliest possible opportunity.'

In addition to a recommendation that a time limit of 42 days for the DWP and HMRC to respond to appeals should be introduced at the earliest opportunity, the AJTC also recommends that -

• appeals should be lodged with the Tribunals Service , with the proviso that the DWP, HMRC and the Tribunals Service should aim to bring this change in as soon as is practicable, and by 2014 at the latest and that , in the meantime, the Tribunals Service should closely monitor compliance with the time limit;
• the DWP should review the operation of the reconsideration process with a view to putting in place a more effective means of resolving disputes quickly but which does not restrict claimants’ appeal rights;
• the DWP and HMRC in collaboration with the Tribunals Service should agree and adhere to new criteria mandating the attendance of presenting officers at tribunal hearings, recognising the positive benefits this brings to the proceedings and the potential for providing effective feedback to decision makers;
• the DWP, HMRC and the Tribunals Service should develop a proper system for measuring the end-to-end appeals process, publishing waiting times on a quarterly basis;
• the DWP, Tribunals Service and Local Government Association should address housing benefit appeal delays as a matter of urgency;
• the DWP and the Tribunals Service should run a further pilot of the use of early neutral evaluation, with a view to encouraging the resolution of disputes at an earlier stage; and
• the Tribunals Service should build greater flexibility into the listing process to give high priority to vulnerable cases, possibly through the use of a ‘triage’ system.

Time for Action - A report on the absence of a time limit for decision makers to respond to social security appeals is available from ajtc.gov.uk