[2025] UKUT 153 (AAC)

Under the daily living activities, the tribunal awarded seven points: Activity 1(b), 2 points for needing prompting in preparing and cooking food; Activity 3(b), one point for the use of a dosette box to manage her medication, and Activity 9(c), 4 points for difficulties engaging with other people. This was below the eight points needed for the minimum, standard award.

Activity 4, washing and bathing, was considered, but the point scoring descriptors were found not apply because physically the appellant was able to wash and bathe, and did not require prompting to do so; accordingly, she satisfied the zero-point descriptor.

The point scoring for Activity 9, engaging with other people face to face, shows that the tribunal accepted that she had real difficulties with this, needing social support to engage with other people. Despite the tenor of the statement of reasons in relation to the effects of the TMAU on her psychological state, there was no analysis of whether this might have amounted to overwhelming psychological distress, which would have engaged the higher scoring descriptor.