Bedroom Tax- MA and others [2013] EWHC 2213(QB)- Judicial Reviews in the High Court and further appeal to the Court of Appeal.
These cases concern disabled people who are affected in various ways-
an adult couple who have to sleep in separate bedrooms because of their disability (the Carmichaels), tenants who need the room to store disability equipment, a tenant with mental health problems who can’t move and a number of families with children who cannot share a room because of their disability.
It was found in the High Court that the rules were discriminatory to disabled peoplebutthattheywerejustifedbyadviceprovisionandDHP’s. TheCourtof Appeal has upheld this judgment for similar reasons(21/2/2014) - clients may now seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Beneft Cap- R(JS and others) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2013] EWHC 3350(QB)-The Judicial Review was initially lost by 3 clients who argued that the Beneft Cap breached rights accorded by articles 8 and were discriminatory against article14 of the Human Rights Act and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and were irrational in law. This case has now been refused in the Court of Appeal(21/2/2014- SG & Ors, R (on the application of ) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions & Ors [2014] EWCA Civ 156). The clients were lone parents.
Your clients in the meantime will still want to consider appealing on similar ground in case further challenges are successful.
Click here for our new Beneft Updater Course that gives you an opportunity to keep up to date and discuss all these issues.