A High Court judge is due to give his ruling on a legal challenge over the UK Government's decision not to extend the £20 uplift to more than two million people on legacy benefits to help support them during the coronavirus pandemic.
Benefit claimants on Universal Credit received a £20 weekly increase from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) from April 2020 to October 2021 to help them pay for additional costs incurred during the coronavirus crisis and subsequent lockdowns.
However, the uplift was not extended to those on older benefits such as Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) - which campaign groups say disproportionately affected disabled people. Two disabled people who claim ESA brought the challenge to the DWP decision.
On November 17 and 19, 2021, evidence was submitted in writing to the High Court as part of a judicial review on behalf of four recipients of legacy benefits who contend that the failure to provide them with the £20 weekly uplift which was given to claimants of Universal Credit constituted “unlawful discrimination.”
If successful, backdated payments amounting to some £1,500 could be awarded.
UPDATE: HIGH COURT RULING
A High Court judge has ruled that people receiving legacy benefits should not be given the same £20 weekly uplift that was paid to millions of Universal Credit claimants during the coronavirus pandemic.
William Ford, partner at Osbornes Law, who represents all four of the individuals who brought the judicial review challenging the failure to extended the £20 uplift to those on legacy benefits, said: "We are extremely disappointed by today's judgement and will study it carefully to assess whether there are any grounds to appeal.
"The court's decision is a devastating blow to more than two million people who we consider were unjustly deprived of the £20 uplift given to those who receive Universal Credit during the pandemic.
"It is deeply unfair that those on so-called legacy benefits should be discriminated against in this way and we will look to see if we can continue to fight the Government on this issue to get our clients and everybody else on legacy benefits justice."
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