Independent Review Service
This page contains information about the Independent Review Service, including:
What it does
What complaints are eligible?
Cost
Timescale
Procedure
Outcomes
What it does
The Independent Review Service (IRS) is part tribunal, part ombudsman. It provides an independent review of discretionary Social Fund decisions, which are usually made in Jobcentre Plus offices. It covers England, Wales and Scotland. The IRS is funded by the Department for Work and Pensions but operates independently.
For information on complaints about benefits, see Benefits.
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What complaints are eligible?
The Social Fund has two parts:
- The regulated scheme, which covers funeral, maternity and winter fuel expenses.
- The discretionary scheme, which includes community care grants, budgeting loans and crisis loans.
Community care grants are given to help vulnerable people on specified benefits live independently. They are grants, not loans, so they don’t have to be repaid. Budgeting loans are a form of interest-free credit for people on certain benefits to help with buying one-off items of furniture. Crisis loans are available to anyone, but only in emergencies or disaster situations.
Decisions about whether to give you one of these Social Fund grants or loans are made by Jobcentre Plus officers. If you are not happy with their decision, there is an internal review process. If things are not resolved after the internal review, you can complain to the IRS.
You can’t take complaints about the regulated scheme to the IRS.
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Cost
Access to the IRS is free for complainants.
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Timescale
The IRS can work very quickly in an emergency – 87% of decisions in urgent cases are completed within 24 hours, according to the 2008-09 annual report. Of non-urgent cases, 99% of routine complaints are completed within twelve working days, and 92% of those involving complex enquiries or further investigation are completed within 23 working days.
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Procedure
Since April 2006, you can apply to the IRS direct if you have a complaint and are not happy with the internal review conducted by Jobcentre Plus. You can contact the IRS by freephone, email or letter – the details are on the IRS website. There is a link at the bottom of this page.
Like an ombudsman, the IRS has the power to investigate and to consider how a decision was made. Unlike an ombudsman, the IRS also has the power to consider the merits of the original decision.
The review is in two stages. At the first stage the IRS inspector considers whether the law was interpreted correctly, whether the Jobcentre Plus reviewer acted fairly and whether he or she observed principles of natural justice.
If the IRS inspector thinks the decision was taken incorrectly, he or she can require the Jobcentre Plus office to reconsider its decision, or can overturn the decision and make a new decision.
Even if the IRS inspector finds that the decision was taken correctly, he or she can then consider, at the second stage
- the merits of the case
- whether the decision was right in the circumstances and
- relevant changes in circumstances and new evidence
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Outcomes
In 2008-09, around half of the decisions that were reviewed were changed by the IRS. IRS inspectors did not refer any complaints back for a reconsideration by Jobcentre Plus.
- IRS inspectors changed 51% of community care grant decisions, and made 8,234 awards. Awards made where none had been made at the Jobcentre Plus review (new awards) averaged £459. Awards that increased an award made by Jobcentre Plus (increased awards) averaged £260
- IRS inspectors changed 55% of crisis loan decisions and made 2,970 awards, with an average payment of £169 for new awards and £90 for increased awards
- IRS inspectors changed 10% of budgeting loan decisions, and made 171 awards, with an average payment of £298 for new awards and £192 for increased awards
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Updated October 2009
