Mohammed Yusuf Patel v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Facts

The appellant challenged two decisions made by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on 12 April 2011. The first held that he was not entitled to income support from 14 May 2010 to 17 October 2010 because he had been abroad for longer than 28 days. The second held that £4,224.48 had been overpaid and was recoverable. His case was that he had been receiving incapacity benefit, not income support. Incapacity benefit allowed temporary absences of up to 26 weeks for medical treatment abroad. The First-tier Tribunal dismissed his appeals on 14 August 2012. On 29 August 2012, within time, he emailed the tribunal saying that he wished to appeal and asking for the "full report or judgment". He received an automated acknowledgement, but HMCTS apparently never acted on the request, and no statement of reasons was ever provided. Ten years later, in 2022, he wrote again seeking to appeal. After a hearing on 4 June 2025, the First-tier Tribunal (District Tribunal Judge B McKenna) made a three-part decision dated 6 June 2025. It struck out the appeals against the 2011 decisions for want of jurisdiction. It refused to extend time to request a statement of reasons for the 2012 decision. It also refused to extend time to seek permission to appeal against that decision. The Upper Tribunal gave permission to appeal on 4 March 2026. The Secretary of State supported that application.