housing benefit appeals & tribunals

Tuesday, 28th January, 2025.

Full-Day Workshop: (9:40 - 4:30)  

Workshop Fee:  £270   (No VAT)

 Book 3 places and receive a 4th place FREE.

Also available for In-House Bookings for individual organisations, either On-Site or Online. 

HOUSING BENEFIT APPEALS & TRIBUNALS 

Compiling Appeal Submissions And Presenting At Tribunal

This Workshop provides an ideal insight to the general principles and good practices when it comes to appeal submission writing. We recommend this Workshop for local authority staff who handle appeal cases or are preparing to do so. We include a brief session on the options available to either party (Council or Appellant) to take the appeal further if they disagree with the Tribunal’s decision. 

This Workshop provides an ideal introduction to the topic for new appeals officers, or a refresher for existing appeals officers. Each aspect of submission writing is demonstrated by practical examples and exercises.

We begin by quickly looking at a checklist of things to consider before submitting an appeal to Tribunal: Whether the appeal has been made in time (in particular whether the maximum extended time limit of 13 months has expired); whether the appeal is signed and contains the information required by the Tribunal Procedure Rules; and whether the appeal concerns subject matter that the Tribunal has jurisdiction to consider. In response to a frequent request we receive, the pack will include a template for a short submission inviting the Tribunal to reject an appeal for one of these preliminary reasons. We then move on to look at the process of building a full submission addressing the substance of an appeal, including:

• The traditional seven-section lay-out;
• Combining multiple documents in multiple formats – suggested tools;
• How to approach appeals involving multiple appellants (especially in complex supported accommodation cases).

Many appeal submissions involve overpayments of HB and so we will focus on the issues presented by these cases. Apart from the merits of the case (which might seem “open and shut” on the face of it), overpayment appeals are notoriously subject to technical issues including:

• Has the Council demonstrated that the adjudication history is properly in order, with original awarding decisions properly revised or superseded – what Tribunals sometimes refer to as getting your “ducks in a row”?
• Has the Council made a complete decision – not just that an overpayment exists per se, but whether it is recoverable and from whom?
• Has the decision been notified in the correct manner to the correct parties?

Of course, no Workshop looking at overpayment appeals would be complete without a substantial segment devoted to landlords: When is an overpayment recoverable from a landlord? When is a landlord a party to an appeal? What grounds of appeal may the landlord rely on and what documents should be disclosed to the landlord? 

Many cases involve an Oral Hearing and we will look at what happens at the Hearing: How a presenting officer should conduct himself/herself, and how the Tribunal Judge will preside over the Hearing. Finally, we look at the options that a dissatisfied party has to take an appeal further, in particular applying for permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal. Document templates for this purpose are included in the pack

“GOODIE-BAG”: Delegates will receive specimen skeleton appeal submissions in editable ‘Word’ format with numbered paragraphs and section headings and some “boilerplate” content addressing the key principles, as well as editable admin documents such as the AT37.

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.

Presented by Peter Barker. A hugely experienced trainer, appeals presenter, and submission writer. He combines a wealth of first-hand experience with expert knowledge of adjudication legislation and has a real enthusiasm for the topic.

Contact us for In-House/'Zoom/TEAMS' booking information on a range of programmes for this topic.  

We are always pleased to arrange most of our Workshops, such as this one, for staff from an individual organisation to be held at their own training venue or by Zoom/TEAMS. Please email us with your requirements for details.