Upper Tribunal Administrative Appeals Chamber

[2025] UKUT 332 (AAC)

Fecha: 21-Jul-2025

The earlier legislation

70.

Much of the previous version of the legislation was materially identical to the current version, but the significant difference for our purposes is that it was not until the WRA 2012 that the legislation introduced the possibility of the Secretary of State imposing a requirement of mandatory reconsideration as a condition precedent to appealing to the Tribunal and as the basis for defining the limitation period for appealing. Otherwise, section 12(1) setting out the right of appeal against decisions under sections 8 and 10 (but not section 9) was materially identical. What the legislation at that time provided in relation to time limits was in material part as follows.

71.

First, regulation 31 of the 1999 D&A Regulations provided a primary one-month time limit for appealing from the original decision under section 8, or from notification of a revision or supersession decision, including refusals to revise on what are now “any grounds” under regulation 5 of the current regulations. There was no provision for extending time for appeal against what are now “any time” revisions. Regulations 31 and 32 provided:

Time within which an appeal is to be brought

31.— (1) Where an appeal lies from a decision of the Secretary of State to an appeal tribunal … the time within which that appeal must be brought is, subject to the following provisions of this Part—

(a)

within one month of the date of notification of the decision against which the appeal is brought; or

(b)

where a written statement of reasons for that decision is requested, within 14 days of the expiry of the period specified in sub-paragraph (a).

(2)

Where the Secretary of State —

(a)

revises, or following an application for a revision under regulation 3(1) or (3) does not revise, a decision under … section 9, or

(b)

supersedes a decision under … section 10,

the period of one month specified in paragraph (1) shall begin to run from the date of notification of the revision or supersession of the decision, or following an application for a revision under regulation 3(1) or (3) [i.e., so far as we are concerned, “any grounds” revisions], the date the Secretary of State issues a notice that he is not revising the decision.

…

(5)

The time limit specified in this regulation for bringing an appeal may be extended in accordance with regulation 32.

32.— Late appeals

(1)

The time within which an appeal must be brought may be extended where the conditions specified in paragraphs (2) to (8) are satisfied, but no appeal shall in any event be brought more than one year after the expiration of the last day for appealing under regulation 31.

72.

Secondly, section 9(5) of the SSA 1998 was in the same terms as it is now, so that where a decision was revised that started afresh the time limit for appealing.

73.

It is also relevant to note for the purposes of the case law we are considering what regulation 6 of the 1999 D&A Regulations said about supersession decisions:

Supersession of decisions

—(1) Subject to the following provisions of this regulation, for the purposes of section 10, the cases and circumstances in which a decision may be superseded under that section are set out in paragraphs (2) to (4).

(2)

A decision under section 10 may be made on the Secretary of State’s or the Board's own initiative or on an application made for the purpose on the basis that the decision to be superseded—

(a)

is one in respect of which—

(i)

there has been a relevant change of circumstances…

(b)

…

(i)

the decision was erroneous in point of law, or it was made in ignorance of, or was based upon a mistake as to, some material fact … [etc – the regulation goes on to set out other circumstances]