Recently in Benefits Law Category

The Government has announced new legal rights for those who care for elderly or disabled relatives, reports The Daily Telegraph.

The Care and Support Minister, Norman Lamb, has announced that those who juggle care commitments with work will be given the legal right to claim help, including respite holidays and training.

Today's Queen's Speech will unveil the proposals, which will oblige councils to assess the support needs of all carers and to provide services to ensure that those care needs are met. Financial assistance for carers will be means tested, but many advice measures will be available to all.

The Government is facing a legal challenge to its controversial change to the law on disability benefits, after a group of disabled people declared that the consultation on the changes to the rules was unlawful, reports The Independent.

Three activists have sought permission to seek a judicial review of the Government's decision to replace the Disability Living Allowance with the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) that came into force this week.

The three claim that although the Government consulted properly on their initial proposals, the version of the policy that finally came into force was far more stringent, and was therefore significantly different from that proposed in the initial consultation.

The High Court will hear a legal challenge to the Government's plan to scrap the Independent Living Fund for people with severe disabilities.

The challenge is being brought by six claimants, who are asking for a judicial review of the legality of the decision, that will see centralised funds directed out to local authorities, reports the BBC.

The Government announced plans to scrap the Independent Living Fund back in December 2010. The ILF offers 21,000 people living with severe disabilities a 'top up' of up to £300 per week to allow them to pay for additional care that lets them stay in their own home.

The country's biggest credit reference agency, Experian, signed a deal with the Government to act as their benefit fraud 'bounty hunters' sniffing out benefit cheats by following their incriminating paper-trails.

By examining household bills, employment records and credit card applications, Experian will be able to discover if claimants for single parent or sole occupant discounts and benefits are fraudulent.

Although the value of the contract is undisclosed, it is believed that Experian will receive bonuses for exceeding its targets. And since the HMRC expects to save around £700 million and the Department for Work and Pensions around £100 million, they can afford to offer a generous contract to Experian.

In April this year, the Government rolled out reassessment tests for people claiming incapacity benefit, a nationwide shake-up that affected around 1.6million people.

The test aims to place those deemed fit to work into a "work programme" scheme, while those who are not fit to work are to be given a new benefit called the Employment and Support Allowance.

But the results of the reassessment showed that nearly 40% of claimants were deemed fit to work, leading some to claim that the Government's reasons behind the test were simply "to save money".