The cases we handle

Government Departments and Public Authorities covered

Department for Work and Pensions

Commissioners decide appeals about decisions of tribunals and not directly those of the Secretary of State or decision–makers acting for the Secretary of State. It is the tribunals that consider and retake any decision made by decision–makers in the Department for Work and Pensions on behalf of the Secretary of State about social security benefits and related matters. This is provided that the law gives a right of appeal. In most cases it does. This includes:

decisions of the DWP agencies – the Pensions Service and Jobcentre Plus
decisions made by its child support agency and its Compensation Recovery Unit.
past decisions made by the Department of Social Security or the Employment Service of the Department of Education and Employment.

Decisions on social security in Northern Ireland are made by decision–makers in the Department for Social Development.

Department of Health

Part 3 of the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 provides for recovery by the NHS of costs of treating injured patients in all cases where personal injury compensation is paid for injuries occurring on or after 29 January 2007.

In practice the Compensation Recovery Unit (CRU) of the Department of Work and Pensions operate the scheme on behalf of the Secretary of State for Health – or in Scotland, the Scottish Minister of Health.

The Act provides for appeals to tribunals and, on points of law, Commissioners in respect of certificates issued under the scheme.

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs

Commissioners decide appeals from social security tribunals (but not tax tribunals) on issues of law or about penalties. Commissioners decide appeals from decisions of tribunals on appeal against decisions made by the HMRC about the following:

Child benefit
Child tax credit
Child trust funds
Guaranteed minimum pensions
Guardian's allowance
Working tax credit

Appeals about other decisions of the HMRC go to the tax appeal tribunals. These include:

appeals about statutory sick pay and the other statutory pay schemes
disputes about whether someone is an employee or self–employed (save where the individual is claiming jobseeker’s allowance, when the appeal does go to the social security tribunals)
appeals about the accuracy of National Insurance contribution records (save for contributions to the graduated retirement benefit scheme before 1975, where appeals go to the social security tribunals)
appeals about the right to pay additional Class 3 (voluntary) NI contributions
appeals about the right to home responsibility protection in place of the need to pay NI contributions

In some cases an appeal involves both a question for HMRC and the tax tribunals and also DWP and the social security tribunals and Commissioners. In most of these cases the appeal should go to the tax tribunal first (and will often then not need to go to the social security tribunal).

Ministry of Defence

Commissioners hear appeals about decisions of Pensions Appeal Tribunals about war pensions and the armed and reserve forces compensation scheme. These schemes are now the responsibility of the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency, an executive agency of the Ministry of Defence.

Local authorities

Social security tribunals hear all appeals from local councils in England, Scotland and Wales about housing benefit and council tax benefit. Appeals from the decisions of the appeal tribunals go to Commissioners on points of law only.

Page last updated 18 April 2008