Child Disability Payment decision making guide

Applying to the Upper Tribunal for permission to appeal if the First-tier Tribunal refuses permission.

A party can apply to the Upper Tribunal for permission to appeal. This is if the First-tier Tribunal refuses to give permission to appeal to the Upper Tribunal (The Upper Tribunal for Scotland (Social Security Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2018, Schedule, para 3(1))

A party applies by completing the ‘Upper Tribunal Appeal and Permission Request Form’ that can be found on the Upper Tribunal’s website. The application must include:

  • the decision of the First-tier Tribunal that is being challenged
  • the points of law which the person making the application wants to appeal
  • a copy of any separate written statement of reasons for that decision
  • a copy of the notice of refusal of permission to appeal from the First-tier Tribunal.

A party must apply for permission to appeal:

  • to the Upper Tribunal
  • against a decision of the First-tier Tribunal
  • within 30 days of the relevant date (The Scottish Tribunals (Time Limits) Regulations 2016, regulation 3(1)).

The ‘relevant date’ is when notice of the First-tier Tribunal’s refusal of permission to appeal is sent to the applying party (The Scottish Tribunals (Time Limits) Regulations 2016, regulation 3(2)).

If a party applies for permission to appeal after 30 days, the party must:

  • request an extension of time
  • explain why their application for permission to appeal was not made in time
  • say why it is in the interests of justice that the time be extended.

The Upper Tribunal can extend the period beyond 30 days if it considers this is in the interests of justice (The Scottish Tribunals (Time Limits) Regulations 2016, regulation 3(3)).

The Upper Tribunal can:

  • refuse the permission to appeal
  • give permission to appeal
  • give permission to appeal on limited grounds or subject to conditions.

The Upper Tribunal must send each party a notice of its decision including:

  • the reasons for refusing permission
  • the limited grounds or conditions to which permission is subject.

The party applying for permission to appeal can apply to the Upper Tribunal for a hearing to reconsider the decision. They can do this by email or by letter. This is if the Upper Tribunal refuses permission to appeal or if it only gives permission to appeal on limited grounds, and no hearing has been held. The party must apply within 14 calendar days of when they received the notice from the Upper Tribunal.

At the hearing, the application for permission must be heard and decided by a member or members of the Upper Tribunal who are different from the member or members who refused permission to appeal without a hearing.

Parties are presumed to have received notice from the Upper Tribunal 48 hours after it is sent to them. This is the case as long as the information is sent by either post or email to the last known addresses of the parties (The Upper Tribunal for Scotland (Social Security Rules of Procedure) Regulations 2018, Schedule, para 1(2))

This is unless it can be shown that the information was received earlier or later.

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