For policy, appeals and training officers, specialist decision makers and anyone with a keen interest in the adjudication rules in HB, UC and other benefits.
(It is assumed delegates have some prior knowledge of benefits in general.)
Next Workshop:
Tuesday, 4th November, 2025.
Full-Day Workshop: (9:40 - 4:30)
Workshop Fee: £280 (No VAT)
Book 3 places and receive a 4th place FREE.
Also available for In-House Bookings - Online or at your own training venue. We also provide a separate Programme on this topic aimed at the RSL / Landlord Sector. Please contact us for details.
The Benefits Adjudication Regime - Correcting Benefit Decisions
Revision & Supersession: Grounds, Time Limits & Correct Effective Dates
This Workshop offers an in-depth guide to the principles of decision making in both HB and other welfare benefits. The focus is primarily on HB, but the decisions and appeals framework for DWP benefits has very similar principles and delegates who are involved in advising claimants about UC, PIP, ESA, etc., are welcome to attend. We cover the full range of circumstances in which an existing benefit decision, or more than one existing decision, might need to be changed, whether on the initiative of the Council / DWP or the claimant. Sometimes it will be appropriate to revise a decision, other times the decision will need to be superseded. We look at the fundamental nature of revision and supersession:
· What is the difference between revision and supersession?
· Why are there two different mechanisms anyway?
Often, it is necessary to revise or supersede more than one decisionover a long period, especially when creating an overpayment – it is important that you identify each original decision that requires revision or supersession and get your “ducks in a row” as Tribunals often put it. While on the subject of overpayments, we will quickly recap the “overpayment essentials” – the rules governing from whom an overpayment is recoverable, diminishing capital and underlying entitlement.
The Decisions and Appeals Regulations for both HB and for other benefits include multiple grounds on which decisions may be revised or superseded: change of circumstance, official error, award of one benefit affects the rate of another etc. We will look in depth at the main grounds for revision and supersession that you are likely to be relying on from day to day – some of these involve time limits when the resulting decision as revised/superseded will be advantageous to the claimant … but many do not. Incorrectly applying time limits, or the wrong time limits, is a frequent error in benefits decision making.
Where a superseding decision is required, it must be implemented from the correct date. Getting the date wrong is an error frequently picked up on by external auditors. Common errors include the annual uprating; multiple events falling in the same benefit week; supersession instead of out-of-time revision; and changes affecting other state benefits. The default action of applying all changes and adjustments from the following Monday is often the wrong one. The Notes Pack contains a complete list of correct effective dates, with detailed commentary on the most important ones.
Presented by Peter Barker, a hugely experienced trainer, appeals presenter and submission writer. He started as a local authority appeals officer in the 1980s, and for many years he has represented local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland at both First-Tier and Upper Tribunal level. Tribunal Judges frequently comment on the high quality of Peter’s submissions. He combines a wealth of first-hand experience with expert knowledge of adjudication legislation and has a real enthusiasm for the topic.
Topics Covered:
The Basics
· Key terminology:
o Decision;
o Revision;
o Superseding decision.
Revising A Decision
· Establishing grounds for revision;
o “Any time” revision on limited grounds;
o “Any grounds” revision within limited time.
· When the time limit can be extended.
Superseding Decisions
· Available grounds;
· Time limits;
· Tribunal decisions.
Interaction between revision and supersession
· Changing a series of multiple decisions;
· The difference between a late change and out of time revision.
When revision or supersession creates an overpayment
· The importance of “getting your ducks in a row”;
· The separate nature of the entitlement decision and the overpayment “determination”;
· Overpayment essentials: From whom recoverable, diminishing capital, underlying entitlement.
Effective Dates Of Superseding Decisions
· Important examples including:
o Changes to other benefits;
o Too late to revise.
Case Studies
· Real life case studies involving some complex adjudication problems involving both HB and UC.
Contact us for In-House Online booking information for this topic.
We are always pleased to arrange most of our Workshops, such as this one, for staff from an individual organisation.