An recent exchange in Parliament, on 16th October, about the Work Capability Assessment sent the Rescare ‘blogger’ scurrying off to Google and Wikipedia to find out what precisely the Upper Tribunal is!
Stephen Timms (East Ham, Labour) “To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the recent finding of the Upper Tribunal that Work Capability Assessment places people with mental health problems at a substantial disadvantage; and if he will make a statement”.
Michael Penning (Hemel Hempstead, Conservative) “In May 2013 the Upper Tribunal handed down an interim judgment in a judicial review which challenged the process of when and whether the Department obtains further medical evidence for ESA claimants with a mental health condition going through the WCA process. The Upper Tribunal clarified that the Department has not been found to be in breach of its duty to make reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010, but directed the further steps that should be taken in the proceedings in order to decide the question of whether there are reasonable steps that could be taken in order to avoid the disadvantage it had found to exist.
The Department does not agree with the judgment and the Court of Appeal have granted permission to appeal it. We welcome this as we believe we have made—and continue to make—significant improvements to the WCA process for people with mental health conditions. This appeal will be heard on 21 and 22 October 2013. All proceedings in the Upper Tribunal have been suspended until the appeal has been decided”.
To clarify (using Cut&Paste from Wikipedia!):
- The Upper Tribunal is part of the administrative justice system of the United Kingdom. It was created in 2008 as part of a programme, set out in the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, to rationalise the tribunal system, and to provide a common means of handling appeals against the decisions of lower tribunals. It is administered by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service.
- The Upper Tribunal is a superior court of record, giving it equivalent status to the High Court and meaning that it can both set precedents and can enforce its decisions (and those of the First-tier Tribunal) without the need to ask the High Court or the Court of Session to intervene. It is also the first (and only) tribunal to have the power of judicial review.
Rescare will await further developments on this issue – since ‘reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010’ is a concept as relevant to learning disability as to mental health.