Steven Ball (deceased) v The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

Facts

Mr Steven Ball claimed Universal Credit after receiving income-related Employment and Support Allowance, which included the Enhanced Disability Premium but not the Severe Disability Premium (SDP). The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions refused him the transitional protection payment, the Transitional Severe Disability Premium Element (TSDPE). The Secretary of State's view was that Mr Ball had not been "entitled" to an award of ESA including SDP during the month preceding his entitlement to Universal Credit (Regulation 63 and Schedule 2 of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014). Before the First-tier Tribunal, Mr Ball argued that he had been entitled to SDP even though it was not in payment. The Tribunal decided that there was no entitlement because there had been no entitlement decision. Mr Ball's grounds of appeal were that there can be entitlement to SDP even if it is not in payment, and that he had told the Secretary of State of his mother's death, which gave rise to his SDP entitlement, through the "Tell us Once" service but nothing had been done about it. The First-tier Tribunal refused permission to appeal and the Upper Tribunal granted it. Mr Ball has since died, and his sister continued the appeal. In the Upper Tribunal, the Secretary of State still maintained that entitlement to SDP requires an actual award. However, he came to accept that the Tell us Once report was a valid report of a change of circumstances. On 6 November 2025 he superseded the ESA award to include SDP up to the date of migration to Universal Credit.