A court ruled that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) computer system automatically granting landlords access to deduct funds from tenants' benefits is unlawful. The case highlights the growing reliance on computers and AI in the benefits system and the potential for unfairness when human oversight is limited.
A Department for Work and Pensions ( DWP ) computer system that automatically grants landlords access to deduct funds from their tenants' benefits has been ruled 'unlawful' by a court. The case was brought forward by a tenant who discovered the DWP had withheld £500 from his Universal Credit payment upon his landlord's request, stemming from an unresolved dispute over property repairs.
This legal challenge exposed a 'click-screen' program used by the DWP, revealing that tenants could lose up to a fifth of their monthly universal credit standard allowance, with rent directly paid to the landlord, without any consultation with either the landlord or DWP officials. This verdict has significant implications for the government's increasing reliance on computers and AI to administer the benefits system, potentially reducing the need for human involvement in decision-making. Following a judge's declaration of the procedure as unfair and unlawful earlier this month, the DWP is now obligated to implement tenant protections within a system that processes thousands of requests yearly from landlords for benefit deductions and rent diversions.The unfair process was challenged in court by Nathan Roberts, a law graduate and former police control room worker who described the approach as 'clearly arbitrary and an abuse of process'. He was engaged in a dispute with his landlord, Guinness Partnership Trust, concerning alleged negligence in property maintenance, viewing the DWP's conduct as illicit. The judge, Mr Justice Fordham, criticized the decision to pay the £460 rent portion of his benefits and a £44 deduction for alleged rent arrears directly to Guinness without consulting him. He stated it was unjust that tenants on universal credit who could be negatively impacted by rent arrears deductions and rent diversion requests had no chance to voice their concerns before the deductions were approved. The judge concluded there was a 'real possibility' that DWP 'decision-makers' were being instructed by the computer to approve deduction requests regardless of whether delaying or blocking the request was in the tenants' best interests. He said the failure to consult claimants meant DWP decision-makers were only hearing 'one side of the story'. Consequently, tenants would effectively be barred from using the withholding of rent payments as leverage to get action on repairs. He added that there were 'real-world impacts' on tenants, who, even if they successfully challenged the decision through lengthy internal DWP appeal processes, would not be able to reverse the deductions for months, during which they would be on reduced benefit.An appeal by Mr Roberts' to DWP that he did not owe his landlord money was considered for three months by officials. The DWP then rejected the appeal, only to reverse that decision a few days later when they learned he was taking legal action against it. A DWP spokesperson told the Guardian: “We are now carefully considering this judgment. Millions of people rely on our welfare system every year and it is vital that it can be accessed by all who need it.” Mr Roberts' lawyers said the case revealed that although the DWP had no explicit policy to exclude claimants when making a decision about landlord’s deduction requests, the computer program directed them to automatically approve the request. Emma Varley of Bindmans solicitors, said: 'Even if the decision-maker could in theory unplug the computer, make contact with the claimant and reach their own decision, that’s very unlikely. The computer program is, in effect, a policy which directs DWP decision-makers that it’s unnecessary to give universal credit claimants the opportunity to make representations before making payments to their landlords.
DWP Universal Credit Landlord Deductions Computer Program Unlawful Tenant Rights Benefits System AI
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