GEA v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Facts

GEA, whose identity is protected by a rule 14 order, was awarded universal credit on 03 February 2021. On 03 June 2021 she declared that she had limited capability for work and supplied the Department for Work and Pensions with a MED3 certificate from her doctor, which advised her to refrain from work from 15 May 2021. Following an assessment that included a medical assessment on 28 February 2022, DWP decided on 01 April 2022 that she had limited capability for work and work-related activity, and included the LCWRA element in her award from 03 March 2022. On mandatory reconsideration DWP moved the start date to 03 December 2021, explaining that HMRC had reported earnings of £1,108.15 in the assessment period from 03 November 2021 to 02 December 2021, which exceeded what DWP called the conditionality earnings threshold. GEA appealed, contending she should have been paid the element from September 2021. The First-tier Tribunal, sitting at Leicester before Judge H. Sykes, partially allowed her appeal on 14 February 2023: it awarded the element from 03 September 2021, but held that regulation 41(2) of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 applied to the November–December assessment period, so that a second three-month relevant period ran and entitlement resumed only from 03 March 2022. A salaried First-tier Tribunal Judge granted permission to appeal, noting that Upper Tribunal guidance would assist.