MQ v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Facts

The claimant, referred to as MQ and acting by his appointee, his mother, was in receipt of disability living allowance. He appealed against a supersession decision of 16 November 2023 awarding him the highest rate of the care component and the lower rate of the mobility component from and including 18 May 2023 to and including 22 January 2028; he had already been receiving both components at those rates from and including 23 January 2023. The decision was reconsidered on 23 January 2024 but not revised. The appeal came before the First-tier Tribunal (Social Entitlement Chamber) sitting at Bristol on 18 June 2025, comprising Judge Hobbs, Dr Pugh and Ms James, at which the appointee attended and gave oral evidence and a presenting officer for the Secretary of State also attended. The presenting officer conceded that the higher rate of the mobility component could be awarded, but the Tribunal nonetheless refused the appeal and confirmed the existing rates. District Tribunal Judge Hobbs granted permission to appeal on the issue of whether the reasons given were sufficient in a context where the presenting officer had supported the appeal but the Tribunal had reached a different decision. The Secretary of State supported the appeal before the Upper Tribunal, which decided the matter on the papers, both parties having consented to a decision without an oral hearing.