Good morning

Journal Messages Are Not Valid Decision Notices

A recurring issue, increasingly being raised by members, is that DWP staff frequently assume that posting a short message on the claimant’s journal constitutes a lawful decision notice. Recent case correspondence confirms this is happening on an increasing scale—for example, claimants being told their award is “closed” or “terminated,” or that their “housing costs” have “Not been approved” — without any formal letter being issued.

However, a brief journal entry does not meet the statutory requirements for a written notification of a decision. A lawful decision notice must:

  • State the decision made.
  • Explain the legal basis and reasoning.
  • Inform the claimant of their rights of challenge (MR → Appeal); and
  • Trigger the 1-month time limit for requesting an MR or appeal.

Failure to provide a valid notice means the 1-month period to challenge the decision has not yet begun.

The Upper Tribunal Has Already Ruled on this: PP v SSWP (UC) [2020] UKUT 109 (AAC)

Judge Wikeley and other Tribunal judges have repeatedly criticised DWP for this malpractice.

In PP v SSWP (UC) [2020] UKUT 109 (AAC), the Upper Tribunal confirmed that:

  • A claimant cannot be held to have been notified of a decision unless a proper, legally compliant notice has been issued.
  • Brief journal messages or informal contact by DWP staff do not amount to proper notification. {see paras 24 & 25}
  • Without proper notification, the claimant’s MR request must be accepted and treated as timely.

This judgment has been widely circulated in the welfare rights field, yet DWP frontline and managerial staff continue to disregard these principles.

DWP Is Increasingly Failing to Respond to MR Requests Properly

Another worrying trend is that DWP Service Centre staff are increasingly:

  • Ignoring MR requests altogether.
  • Telephoning the claimant with the outcome instead of issuing a written MR Notice.
  • Posting a short journal entry saying their MR request hasn’t altered the original disallowance; or
  • Treating an MR request as a “general enquiry” or “complaint”, rather than a formal challenge with rights of appeal, etc., that should be directed to a DM.

The law is clear: When a claimant requests an MR, DWP must issue a Mandatory Reconsideration Notice.
This Notice must:

  • Set out the decision under challenge.
  • Explain the decision-maker’s reasoning.
  • Confirm whether the original decision is changed or upheld.
  • Explain the right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal.

When DWP fails to issue an MR Notice, the claimant is effectively blocked from appealing because the Tribunal Service will not accept an appeal without an MR Notice unless the claimant can demonstrate that the fault rests with DWP or the request for the Tribunal to assume jurisdiction is dealt with by a TS Legal officer or Judge.

Consequences for Claimants and Landlords

These failures are not procedural trivialities—they have very real financial and legal consequences:

  • At the initial claim stage, 20% of all claims are “closed” without being properly considered or because its staff act prematurely by not permitting the statutory period for the return of requested information/evidence.
  • Housing costs are refused on initial claim or awards stop abruptly, generating rent arrears, as has been seen in the multiple cases I have referred to DWP’s directorate. When the “disallownce” is challenged, DWP treat the “entitlement” challenge as a “complaint”, passing the case to CRT instead of a decision-maker.
  • Vulnerable tenants—especially those with health conditions, communication problems, or limited digital access—find themselves struggling to challenge unlawful decisions.
  • Landlords attempting to support tenants are left without formal “decision” documents that were normally provided by DWP routinely, before COVID.

The situation is especially damaging in cases where the claimants have learning difficulties, mental health, or substance abuse issues, where tenants often rely heavily on their landlords’ staff assisting them to negotiate the challenges caused by what is nothing other than, DWP malpractice.

If you require any further information on this or any other HB or UC topic, please contact bill@ucadvice.co.uk or phone 07733 080 389

Bill Irvine

UC Advice & Advocacy Ltd

www.ucadvice.co.uk