JDE v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Facts

The appellant, anonymised as JDE under a rule 14 order, was in receipt of universal credit and made a fresh health declaration in relation to her award on 9 April 2024, supported by a fit note. Following a medical examination by a healthcare professional and consideration of the evidence, a decision maker for the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions decided on 21 August 2024 that the award would not be superseded because she was found not to have limited capability for work. A mandatory reconsideration on 15 October 2024 did not revise that decision, and on 4 December 2024 she lodged an appeal with the First-tier Tribunal (Social Security and Child Support). At a hearing in Sheffield on 11 March 2025 before Judge Hillis and Dr Cole, the Tribunal confirmed the Secretary of State's decision, resolving the conflict between what the appellant had told the healthcare professional about her daily activities and her markedly different oral evidence by finding the latter neither credible nor reliable. Permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal was granted by Judge Wikeley, who questioned the logic of paragraph 17 of the statement of reasons and observed that paragraph 20 was less than crystal clear. The appellant advanced three grounds: inadequate consideration of the medical evidence, an unfair credibility assessment, and misapplication of the law on substantial risk.