RH v Department for Communities (DLA)

������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ Decision No: �C3/25-26(DLA)

1.���� I give leave to appeal and allow the appeal. �The decision of the appeal tribunal ("the tribunal") dated 27 August 2024 is set aside and the case remitted to a panel of the Appeal Tribunal which must be wholly differently constituted, to hear the appeal entirely afresh.

2.���� The Appellant, a boy aged 7 at the date of the Department's decision (24 October 2022), acting by his mother as Appointee, had appealed to the tribunal, which allowed the appeal only to the extent of extending the period of the Department's award so that it expired on 10 November 2027 rather than on 10 November 2024 but otherwise refused it. �In particular, it refused an award of the higher rate of care component (HRCC) which meant that there was no question of the Appellant being awarded the higher rate of mobility component (HRMC) via the "severe mental impairment" route either.

3.���� By a submission dated 24 February 2025, Laura Patterson on behalf of the Department supported the appeal on the basis that the tribunal had not given adequate reasons for explaining that the Appellant does not meet the night-time condition for HRCC because it had not shown that it considered the test described by Judge Hemingway in LB v SSWP (DLA) [2018] UKUT 445 (AAC) .

4.���� In an email of 23 May 2025, the Appointee submitted that the case is suitable for a decision to be substituted, awarding both HRMC and HRCC, given (on her case) that the facts have already been established. �She indicates she is experiencing mental health difficulties and financial strain and has sought an expedited decision.