Supreme Court hears “bedroom tax” remedies case

On 3 July 2019, the Supreme Court will hear argument in the case of RR (AP) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (2018/0224). The case is effectively an appeal from the majority decision of the Court of Appeal in Carmichael v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2018] 1 W.L.R. 3429 (CA), which had held that the statutory authorities (First-Tier Tribunal and Upper Tribunal) had no jurisdiction to grant Mr Carmichael a remedy and dis-apply the size criteria when calculating his housing benefit, even though the Supreme Court had earlier held in R (Carmichael) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2016] 1 W.L.R. 4550 (SC) that the application of the so-called “bedroom tax” in his (and his wife’s) case breached their Convention rights. Mr Carmichael did not appeal this remedy decision. The appeal in RR follows the first ever “leapfrog” certificate granted by the Upper Tribunal. A substantial number of cases are stayed in the Upper Tribunal because they raise related issues. In addition to the two main parties, the Supreme Court will hear a joint intervention from the Child Poverty Action Group, Liberty and Public Law Project, as well as an intervention from the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Richard Drabble QC and Matthew Fraser are acting for the Appellant, instructed by Leigh Day.