DLA and PIP legislsation

Some members have posted in News about PIP in relation to DLA.
In law, there is what's called 'primary legislation' which refers to new legislation passed by both Houses of Parliament. There's also 'secondary legislation' which includes 'inter alia' statutory instruments and the like.

However, an important part of English Law, be it law in general or Social Security Law, which often sets precedents is case law, which includes Upper Tribunal Decisions, High Court decisions, Court of Appeal decisions, and decisions made by the House of Lords.

So to clarify in due course ALL current recipients of DLA aged 16 to 64 will eventually be required to claim PIP. However, that does not mean that case law in respect of DLA cannot be applied to PIP.

This will of course depend on the circumstances of each case, but it is wrong to assume that because PIP is a new benefit that previous case law on DLA will be totally disregarded, because that approach would be wrong in law.

To give an example I'll use Employment Support Allowance (ESA) formerly Incapacity Benefit (IB), and before that Invalidity Benefit (IVB). Case law for both IVB and IB is often used successfully for ESA claims.

I hope this clarifies the situation. If not please reply to my post and I'll do my best to try and explain in as simple terms as possible.

Jim Allison
retired Welfare Rights Lawyer & former Social Security Tribunal Member