Upper Tribunal: Administrative Appeals Chamber judgments, 2022

An operator’s licence application must be assessed through a full and proper evaluation of good repute. A negative answer to a question about revocation does…

A revocation decision under Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981, section 17(3)(e), may properly rest on material changes since the grant of an operator’s…

Where tax credits are terminated after a universal credit claim, the First-tier Tribunal’s jurisdiction is confined to the issues arising under the tax credits…

An appeal against a transport-licensing decision is a review, not a complete rehearing. The appellant bears the burden of showing that the decision was wrong…

Inquisitorial questioning by a First-tier Tribunal is not rendered unfair merely because it is direct, repetitive, embarrassing or distressing, provided it is…

A First-tier Tribunal decision on a social-security appeal is final subject only to the statutory routes of revision, supersession or appeal. The common-law…

A refusal to make an any-time revision of a social-security decision for official error carries no direct right of appeal. Jurisdiction depends on establishing…

An appellate tribunal reviewing a Traffic Commissioner’s licensing decision decides questions of law and fact on the material that was before the Commissioner.…

After the transition period, the Withdrawal Agreement continued to confer a modified form of the right to reside under Article 21 TFEU on persons within its…

Fitness to hold a restricted goods vehicle operator’s licence must be assessed on the evidence as a whole. Previous regulatory offences may cast doubt on…

Where an appeal record is materially incomplete and important documents are missing, the Upper Tribunal may allow the appeal and remit the matter for…

A tribunal deciding whether a party acted unreasonably for the purposes of a costs application must give intelligible and adequate reasons for resolving the…

On an appeal against a financial penalty under the Climate Change Agreements (Administration) Regulations 2012, the First-tier Tribunal’s power to reduce a…

A traffic commissioner considering an operator’s licence application must give fair and sufficiently clear notice of the concerns to be examined at a public…

Financial standing is a continuing requirement for a standard public service vehicle operator’s licence. Where the requirement is not satisfied, revocation is…

A First-tier Tribunal must not treat a claimant’s selection of “sometimes” in a PIP questionnaire as a proxy for the statutory frequency test. The tick boxes…

A local authority cannot specify special educational provision in an education, health and care plan on the basis that it will be delivered by a young person’s…

Where a tribunal departs from an earlier benefit award, its reasons must enable the claimant to understand why the outcome is different. It is insufficient…

In social-entitlement proceedings, natural justice does not ordinarily require a tribunal to put every inference or observation to a claimant. However, a…

An operator must demonstrate that it has the required financial resources at its disposal throughout the relevant period. Where legislation makes failure to…

For an unearned-income variation under Child Support Maintenance Calculation Regulations 2012, regulation 69(3) requires the decision-maker and tribunal to…

An appellate tribunal will interfere with a Traffic Commissioner’s licensing decision only where the decision is plainly wrong or disproportionate. Sustained…

For a child-maintenance calculation based on historic income, the tribunal must ordinarily use the figure identified by HMRC under the Child Support…

Where child-support variation grounds under regulations 69 and 69A of the Child Support Maintenance Calculation Regulations 2012 may overlap, there is no…

For the personal independence payment activity of taking nutrition, the definition in Part 1 of Schedule 1 is not cumulative. A claimant who needs an aid or…

The calculation of an operator’s financial standing must produce a fair and accurate result. A generally transparent and workable formula may nevertheless be…

For prescribed disease D7, occupational asthma must be caused by exposure to a sensitising agent. Asthma which pre-existed employment and was merely aggravated…

An adjournment or postponement request made before a regulatory hearing must be considered promptly and the decision communicated where there is sufficient…

On an appeal concerning a detained goods vehicle, the Upper Tribunal reviews the material before the decision-maker and intervenes only where the reasoning and…

A First-tier Tribunal must hold an oral hearing before finally disposing of proceedings unless every party consents, or does not object, to determination…

Unemployed people who are not receiving jobseeker’s allowance may still fall within regulation 8A of the Social Security (Credits) Regulations 1975, because…

For the special backdating provision for refugees, a notification of refugee status is not effective to start the three-month period if it positively states…

Where a licence-holder requests an inquiry under Public Passenger Vehicles Act 1981, section 17(4), a traffic commissioner must hold it before revoking the…

An application for a goods vehicle operator’s licence must identify an operating centre that is available to the applicant. An applicant remains responsible…

Where a First-tier Tribunal accepts that a claimant has difficulties engaging with other people, it must adequately explain its choice between prompting and…

A claimant with a previous tax-credit award may rely on article 7(6) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 23 and Transitional and Transitory…

A claim for Universal Credit need not specify the date from which entitlement is sought. The statutory requirement to claim in the prescribed manner and within…

For paragraph 49(1) of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2008, a payment is recoverable where it has a sufficient factual connection with the injury…

An appellate tribunal reviewing a Traffic Commissioner’s decision must determine questions of fact and law on the material before the Commissioner, without…

An operator seeking to vary a goods-vehicle operator’s licence must demonstrate the prescribed level of available financial standing for the relevant number of…

A transport manager who knows that an operator’s nominal director is a sham, and colludes in or fails to act upon that fronting arrangement, may properly lose…

An operator must demonstrate continuing appropriate financial standing in the manner required by the governing legislation and applicable statutory guidance.…

Under the Armed Forces and Reserve Forces Compensation Scheme, the descriptors for severe and moderate functional limitation are hierarchical and mutually…

For the childcare-charge disregard under the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006, the question is not whether physical childcare was supplied on every day or week…

An operator’s licence may be refused for failure to satisfy the good-repute requirement even where there is no adverse vehicle-safety history. Good repute…

For a restricted goods-vehicle operator’s licence, the statutory financial-standing requirement for standard licences does not itself apply. A Traffic…

A Union citizen affiliated to the host state’s public health insurance system has comprehensive sickness insurance for the purposes of Article 7(1)(b) of…

Where an administrative error prevents a party’s postponement request from reaching the decision-maker, the resulting procedural irregularity may require the…

A refusal to confirm or deny whether information is held may be justified under Freedom of Information Act 2000, section 40(5B)(a)(i), where confirmation or…

On an appeal from a Traffic Commissioner, the Upper Tribunal determines questions of fact and law on the material before the Commissioner, but cannot take…

For hearing-loss claims spanning the replacement of the war-pensions scheme by the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, an award under the Naval, Military and Air…

On an appeal from a Traffic Commissioner, the Upper Tribunal will intervene only where the appellant shows that the reasoning or application of the law…

An operating centre for a goods vehicle operator’s licence must be both available and suitable under section 13C(5) of the Goods Vehicles (Licensing of…

Special educational provision is not limited to provision that itself educates a child. It may include adaptations enabling a disabled child to access and…

An earlier award of disablement pension for a fixed period does not prevent a tribunal from reconsidering causation for a later period. The tribunal must…

A traffic commissioner may invite and accept an undertaking freely given by an operator, but has no power to impose one. The matters listed in section 13C(2)…

In an appeal under section 4 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, the Upper Tribunal may intervene only for a material error of law or fact. The…

A review decision of the Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales is appealable to the Upper Tribunal on a point of law. The statutory reference to appeals…

On an appeal concerning an operator’s licence, the Upper Tribunal conducts a review rather than a complete rehearing. The appellant must show that the…

An appeal may remain within the Upper Tribunal’s jurisdiction after it becomes academic, provided that a point of law arises from the decision under appeal.…

On an appeal from a Traffic Commissioner, the Upper Tribunal determines questions of fact and law on the material before the Commissioner, but cannot consider…

A licensing authority must give an unsuccessful operator’s-licence applicant clear written reasons for its decision. A bare recital of statutory provisions…

On an appeal from a Traffic Commissioner, the Upper Tribunal reviews the material and circumstances existing when the decision was made. It cannot take account…

A traffic commissioner must give an operator fair and sufficiently specific notice of the grounds and evidence relied on for revocation. A revocation based on…

An application under section 166 of the Data Protection Act 2018 provides a procedural remedy concerning the handling and progress of a complaint to the…

An appellate tribunal should not interfere merely because it might prefer a different view of the facts. The appellant must identify objective grounds showing…

For a restricted goods vehicle operator’s licence, financial standing must be assessed in accordance with applicable mandatory directions. An applicant relying…

Professional competence is not acquired merely because an operator designates a qualified transport manager. The proposed manager must be formally nominated…

For a claimant without a National Insurance number, the entitlement gateway in section 1(1B)(b) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 requires…

A parent’s application for a statutory child-support maintenance calculation is barred by a post-2003 maintenance order only during the first year for which…

When determining an application for the return of an impounded vehicle, a Traffic Commissioner must address any ambiguity in the applicant’s case and consider…

Publication of a notice for a heavy goods vehicle licence within the statutory period is a mandatory and inflexible requirement. A traffic commissioner must…

The statutory regimes governing special educational needs and disability discrimination are distinct. An appeal concerning special educational provision under…

Under Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, a finding that a person may harm a child or vulnerable adult is an appealable predictive finding of fact. It is…

On an appeal against a financial penalty imposed under climate change agreement regulations, the tribunal’s power to reduce the penalty is confined to…

Delegated legislation may amend prescribed daily living activities used to assess entitlement to personal independence payment where the enabling statutory…

A derivative right of residence arising under Article 10 of Regulation (EU) No 492/2011 may support entitlement to housing benefit. A concurrent right of…

On an appeal under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Upper Tribunal must decide whether the First-tier Tribunal made an error of law, not whether it…

On an appeal from a Traffic Commissioner, the Upper Tribunal determines questions of law and fact on the material before the Commissioner, without the benefit…

A claimant moving to Universal Credit may receive the LCWRA element from the first assessment period despite a gap after entitlement to old-style ESA ended.…

When applying section 9 of the Education Act 1996, decision-makers must take a holistic view of the public purse. The exercise is not confined to educational…

An accepted award under the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2001 may be reopened only where the claimant establishes the required material change and…

Under Freedom of Information Act 2000, where more than one qualified exemption is engaged, the public interest in maintaining each exemption must be assessed…

An error of law occurs where a tribunal fails properly to assess evidence that a claimant needs an aid to rise from a toilet seat, including evidence that the…

Annex B to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012 is, so far as possible, determinative of whether a criminal offence is a crime of violence. Earlier…

A decision of the First-tier Tribunal may be changed only through an available statutory route. Where the decision to be superseded is itself a tribunal…

An appeal on an error of law jurisdiction cannot be used to re-argue the factual merits. A tribunal need not investigate every piece of evidence where its…

On an appeal concerning financial standing for a goods vehicle operator’s licence, the Upper Tribunal must determine fact and law on the material before the…

Section 83 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 generally excludes entitlement to personal independence payment after the relevant age, subject to regulatory…

A certification-for-contempt application under rule 7A of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (General Regulatory Chamber) Rules 2009 is a separate…

The exception removing the need to claim a Category B retirement pension applied only where the spouse became entitled to a Category A pension on or after 17…

On an appeal from a Traffic Commissioner, the Upper Tribunal must determine whether the decision was wrong, rather than rehear the matter as a first-instance…

An appeal against a Traffic Commissioner’s licensing decision is not a fresh first-instance hearing. Although the Upper Tribunal has jurisdiction over fact and…

On a judicial review of a human-rights decision by the First-tier Tribunal, the Upper Tribunal must identify any material public-law error, although the court…

An appeal against a barring decision is confined to mistakes of law or findings of fact on which the decision was based. Whether inclusion on a barred list is…

Working Tax Credit is a social security benefit for the purposes of paragraph 40 of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2008. The definition includes…

A housing-benefit overpayment caused by a claimant’s misrepresentation of a material fact is recoverable, under regulation 101(2)(b), only from the person who…

An appellate tribunal reviewing an operator-licensing decision considers the evidence that was before the traffic commissioner. It will not allow an appeal…

An unmarried surviving partner cannot obtain bereavement support payment under section 30 of the Pensions Act 2014, which confines entitlement to a spouse or…

A returning British citizen need not have been a qualifying person at the date of the claim for a family member to have a right to reside under regulation 9 of…

A traffic commissioner must correctly identify the maximum available period of grace before deciding whether to revoke an operator’s licence for lack of…

An unincorporated community body need not have unanimity about every motive, policy, purpose or proposed activity. Its members must share at least one common…

For disclosure of third-party personal data under Freedom of Information Act 2000, the necessity requirement in Article 6(1)(f) GDPR is assessed by reference…

Whether a claimant is undertaking a full-time course of advanced education is a question of fact. The inquiry concerns the nature of the course, rather than…

The power to stay proceedings in rule 5(3)(j) of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008 permits a…

A tribunal should not strike out a regulatory reference where disputed facts are material to jurisdiction and have not been properly evaluated. Whether a…

The reference in regulation 4(1)(c)(iii) of The Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 to Article 22(1) of the 2009 Regulation…

A retrospective decision establishing entitlement to a qualifying benefit is declaratory of the entitlement existing during the period awarded. It is not…

For Housing Benefit purposes, a claimant’s shareholding in a company may be treated under regulations 49(5) and 49(6) of the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006…

An existing award of universal credit does not automatically end because a claimant fails to accept a revised claimant commitment. Where an earlier accepted…

DBS has an implied power to reopen a previous “no barring action” decision, including where no new referral or evidence has been received, because that power…

Under regulation 66(1)(c) of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013, a foreign payment is unearned income if it is analogous to a benefit listed in regulation…

Where a criminal-injuries claimant relies on self-defence, a tribunal must assess that case by reference to the right to use reasonable force in defence of…

Where information attracts legal professional privilege, Freedom of Information Act section 42 carries significant inherent public-interest weight against…

In an autobar with representations case, the Disclosure and Barring Service must include a person in the children’s barred list if the prescribed criteria and…

For housing benefit purposes, an approved foster carer is entitled to the additional-bedroom protection in regulation B13 while a child or qualifying young…

Where a personal independence payment decision was made under an unlawfully amended version of the mobility activity concerning planning and following a…