PIP: On 21st December 2017 Justice Mostyn delivered his judgement in the High Court in the case of RF v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.

The individual (RF) was a client of the charity Public Law Project, and was supported by the mental health charity MIND and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), who appeared as 1st and 2nd Interveners in the case. The court also heard statements from the charities The National Autistic Society, Inclusion London, Revolving Doors and Disability Rights UK.

Details of the judgement are available here on the Public Law Projects website  .

To summarise, the judge quashed the 2017 Personal Independence Payment Regulations because they discriminate against those with certain disabilities, in breach of Human Rights Act 1998. His ruling has had immediate consequences (see below), and will have wider ongoing implications . It has established a principle that will affect not just those those with mental health issues, but many with complex conditions e.g. learning disability and autistic spectrum disorders, who, due to that complexity, have been left at the back of the queue for DLA to PIP migration. (I really do not now know the DWP’s latest target date for the completion of that migration, but would not be surprised more slippage)

An immediate effect of the judgement was that the DWP has ordered an immediate review of  all 1.6 million PIP claims processed to date. This BBC News report gives details . The review may cost up to £3.7bn  cost and still be ongoing in 2023! The minister for disabled people, Sarah Newton, said the DWP was embarking on a “complex exercise and of considerable scale” – now there’s an understatement! I just wonder how the resources for this review, not least suitably qualified and competent reviewers, will be found, and what the effect will be on those still to make their initial PIP claim.