Another DWP Court Case Loss

In yet another case found against the DWP a Court has found the welfare secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, unlawfully discriminated against disabled people by failing to exempt their carers from the benefit cap, a high court judge has ruled.

Mr Justice Collins said the government’s decision to apply the cap to full-time carers for adult relatives had created serious financial hardship for them. The benefit cap, which limits working-age unemployed people to £500 a week in benefits, was introduced by the government on the basis that it sent a strong message to so-called workless families that they had to try harder to get a job.

According to the Guardian Collins said: “To describe a household where care was being provided for at least 35 hours a week as ‘workless’ was somewhat offensive. To care for a seriously disabled person is difficult and burdensome and could properly be regarded as work.” The court ruled that the government had breached article 14 of the European convention on human rights.

Heléna Herklots, chief executive of Carers UK, which supplied evidence to the court in support of the challenge, said: “Subjecting those who provide unpaid care to the benefit cap is unfair, counterproductive and inconsistent with the government’s stated aims for the policy. We hope the government accepts the high court’s decision and brings forward new regulations to give all carers equal rights.”

The ruling is the second this year to criticize the benefit cap. In March the Supreme Court found that although the cap was legal, it left claimants unable to house, feed or clothe their family and was therefore in breach of the UK’s obligations on international human rights.

The ABC says: The DWP's track record in court is pretty embarassing. The government should not be losing so often. It points to deeper issues within the DWP management, that many see as morally and ethically bankrupt. 

Source From a Guardian article