Read the guide

For over two decades, interventions in public law cases – often called interventions in the public interest, or third party interventions – have formed a crucial part of Public Law Project’s strategic activities. Through interventions, it is possible to influence the outcome of judicial review claims and other court processes concerning public decision-making and Government policy.

But if a charity or NGO wants to intervene, where should they start?

Our new guide gives up-to-date information to navigate planning and decision-making on interventions. This includes learning and advice from smaller charities, detailed advice about communication strategies, and procedural and evidential requirements in different courts for lawyers working at or representing NGOs.

PLP produced the guide with the support of the public law litigation team at from A&O Shearman and Landmark Chambers’ public interest litigation team, as well as contributions from intervening NGOs.

Victoria Pogge von Strandmann, Legal Director at PLP, said:

We want this guide to encourage and support organisations to include interventions as part of their toolkit in driving change. If you’ve got something of real value to add and are committed to getting it before the court, you can influence a case, however small you are.

The guide comprehensively breaks down practical considerations, costs and the different stages of an intervention.

In order to be as accessible as possible, this guide also contains:

• A glossary of terms
• A flowchart explaining the stages of an intervention
• An in-depth case study of an intervention from Black Equity Organisation
• Short case studies and tips from experience provided by our contributors, including Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), Childhood Bereavement Network (National Children’s Bureau), JUSTICE, and the3million

If you have any feedback on the guide useful for future updates, please fill out this feedback form.

We are already planning an update cycle with our team, and will of course acknowledge any contributions that are used.

Read the guide

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Practice note: Financial eligibility for civil legal aid – Dependants

The decision in WA establishes that a dependant can be a member of more than one household when assessing eligibility for legal aid purposes. The case is relevant wherever an applicant for civil legal aid has a dependant who does not live in their home all the time. This will often arise in family cases where separated parents share caring arrangements for a child. These applicants will now be more likely to qualify for civil legal aid.

Previous guidance directed legal aid agency caseworkers to choose one household to treat as the dependent family member’s household. The Lord Chancellor’s means testing guidance (updated May 2023) has now been updated, but simply refers to the judgment without explanation or guidance on how to apply it.

It is important that dependants are treated as part of the applicant’s household where applicable. Where a family member is a dependant, this leads to a dependant’s allowance being deducted and for the actual costs of their accommodation (rent or mortgage) to be considered. Both things affect the calculation of disposable income. A person who has more than £733 of disposable income does not qualify for legal aid.

Resources for legal aid practitioners

• READ: Domestic abuse survivor unlawfully denied Legal Aid in case against ex, court rules.
• READ: Practice note: Financial eligibility for civil legal aid – Dependants

Are you an individual affected by these issues?

PLP are a small charity specialising in public law and unfortunately, we do not have capacity to advise on eligibility in individual cases, before an application for legal aid has been made.  A legal aid lawyer specialising in your legal issue (i.e. family) could assist to make an application for legal aid, who should be made aware of the judgment and the resources available on this page. Details of family lawyers able to provide legal aid can be found by using the search on the Ministry of Justice website and on our signposting list:

PLP’s signposting list

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A new DWP scheme has been set up to consider applications and the deadline to apply is 19 June 2023.

Hardship payments are paid to Universal Credit claimants when they are sanctioned and most of the time must be paid back. Usually, hardship payments are paid back to the DWP by way of monthly deductions from your benefit.

Who is eligible?

You may be eligible to seek a refund of these repayments if:

• at the time you were paying back the hardship payment, you asked the DWP to stop the repayments; and
• DWP refused your request and continue to take the repayments; and
• you repaid the hardship payment.

How to apply

You can apply using this application form which needs to be posted to the address on the form.

You will need to explain in the form why DWP should have stopped your repayments at the time. This will usually be because either:

• making the repayments affected your health or the health of a family member and/or
• making the repayments caused you financial problems.

You will need to provide the DWP with evidence of this.

This scheme has been set up following a judicial review brought by PLP’s client, which led to the DWP changing their guidance on hardship payment debt in May 2021.

Before the case the DWP’s position was that they had no discretion to waive hardship payment debt. DWP now accept this was not right. Read more about the case.

If your application is refused

If you do make an application to the DWP and your application is refused, PLP may be able to assist you subject to capacity.

You can get in touch via our enquiries email or through our Welfare Rights Hub, which offers second tier support to welfare benefit advisers.

Current repayments

Finally, if you are still repaying hardship payments you can ask DWP to waive the remaining debt by writing to them and giving reasons. There is more detail on how to do so here:

Note for adivsors

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PLP’s strategy to 2025

Our 2022-25 strategy sets out how we are working towards our vision of a world where the state acts fairly and lawfully, and shares our objectives for anti-discrimination.

To meet the challenges we face, we have set goals across five priority areas:

Priority 1. A constitution that promotes accountability

The Executive is taking control over huge swathes of domestic legislation, undermining the role of Parliament, and threatening our rights.

Priority 2: Government use of new technologies is transparent and fair

There is ever greater use of machine learning by key Government departments but little sign of improved transparency or accountability.

Priority 3: A fair and humane immigration system

Asylum seekers and migrants face the full force of the New Plan for Immigration and a broken system of legal aid.

Priority 4: A just and non-discriminatory welfare system

Amid the cost of living crisis the Government is ramping up the use and threat of benefit sanctions

Priority 5: An effective and accessible legal aid scheme

Access to the courts remains restricted, legal aid remains underfunded and the sustainability of sector is under threat.

Anti-discrimination

Our strategy explicitly sets out internal and external anti-discrimination objectives. These are:

1. Identify and challenge discriminatory impact in priority areas and amplify the voices of marginalised communities in the legal policy space
2. Promote better understanding, and use of, discrimination arguments in public law
3. Consider and mitigate equality impacts of our work and decision-making
4. Increase diversity and inclusivity within PLP
5. Further open and share our events and training platform

Read on for more on our anti-discrimination objectives, our mission and values, and internal priorities.

PLP’s strategy to 2025

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Read the DWP’s open letter

Read the sealed consent order

Following a successful judicial review brought by PLP’s client last year, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) confirmed that it has a discretion to waive hardship payment debt and has changed the guidance issued to work coaches and other DWP staff.

The DWP has now written an open letter to PLP explaining how Universal Credit (UC) claimants can apply for recoverable hardship payments after a sanction, and the process by which claimants can request that the recovery of hardship payments are waived.

Getting hardship payment debt waived

PLP has produced a note on how to request waiver of hardship payment debt and what to do if the DWP refuses.

Read the note

Claimant Commitment

If you claim benefits or work with benefit claimants, take a look at our Claimant Commitment micro-site to help ensure that your Claimant Commitment is tailored to your individual circumstances. Getting the claimant commitment right can reduce the likelihood of unfair sanctioning.

The post DWP sets out policy for waiving and repaying Universal Credit hardship payments appeared first on Public Law Project.

Download the toolkit here.

Exceptional Case Funding Clinics: Toolkit 

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• Complaining using public bodies’ complaints procedures or Ombudsmen
• Exercising rights of appeal to a tribunal (if such rights exist in relation to the particular decision to be challenged, such as in welfare benefits cases)
• Asking a public body to review its decision
• Through a process called judicial review

Judicial review is a particularly important aspect of the constitutional settlement in the UK.   It is a process, a court case, where a judge or judges decide whether a public body has behaved lawfully.  It offers a route to justice for those adversely affected by public body decision making and it performs an essential tasks in that it allows the courts and judiciary oversight of  government decision making, be that central or local government, or parts of the state that implement government policy, including the NHS or police, as examples.

This guide covers:

• What is judicial review?
• Who can bring a claim for judicial review?
• What can be challenged?
• Important points to consider and alternatives to judicial review
• The process of judicial review, including procedure for applying, what the courts can do, time limits, and appropriate grounds
• Paying for judicial review
• Why is judicial review important?

An introduction to judicial review.

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This is why it is important that everyone who claims Universal Credit is able to agree a Claimant Commitment that properly reflects their personal circumstances.

This leaflet describes how childcare responsibilities may affect someone’s Universal Claimant Commitment.

Your Universal Credit Claimaint Commitment – childcare responsibilities

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If a claimant ever has a sanction imposed on their claim, their Claimant Commitment should also help them to understand what it is that the DWP think has gone wrong. This is why it is important that everyone who claims Universal Credit is able to agree a Claimant Commitment that properly reflects their personal circumstances.

This leaflet is intended to give general information about Universal Credit Claimant Commitments.

Claimant Commitment general information

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An introduction to public law

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How-to-get-ECF-in-housing-law

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