Hello,
One of our assessment officers made a decision on a benefit claim.
The claimant has asked for an internal review to be conducted. This was done by a second officer.
The decision was still disputed by the claimant so a third officer is preparing a submission to The Tribunals Service.
I have since received 9 pages of complaints about due process and breaches of the Human Rights Act, most of which I am fine in dealing with. However, one of the points raised by the claimant is that we are bound by the regulations to have a different officer look at her case at each stage of the appeal. She is adamant that this has not been done, whilst I am adamant it has. I want to head this off by advising her that there is no specific guidance in the regulations about having a different officer look at each stage, but I am not 100% sure that this is correct.
Can anyone confirm that this is not part of the legislation, or can you point out where the requirement to deal with each appeal stage with a different officer is within the regulations.
Cheers, Neil
.
