help with tribunal letter please

hello my partner has received this letter but we are not sure what it means or what we have to do, please can you help? Appellant: Mr Nobody Respondant: Secretary of state for work and pensions DIRECTIONS NOTICE The respondant claims that the tribunal does not have jurisdiction over the appeal for the reasons shown on the attached document supplied by the respondant. the appellant shall, in writing and within 14 days of after the date upon which these direction were sent to him/her, send to the tribunal andy comments that he/she wishes the tribunal to take into account when deciding whether the appeal is within its jurisdiction. he should at least supply the date of the decision he is appealing against. if the apellant fails to respond within 14 days the appeal may be struck out without further order. if the appellant responds the case is to be referred to a tribunal judge. the appellant my wish to seek advice from such from a welfare rights organisation, a citizens advice bureau or law centre. a party is entitled to challenge any direction given by applying for another direction which amends, suspends or sets aside the first direction. signed by a tribunal judge dated 13/09/11 FIRST TIER TRIBUNAL SOCIAL SECURITY i think we need to respond in 14 days but saying what? i just need someone to explain pls my brain cant work it out. thanks mandy

Hi Mandy My brain’s a bit too frazzled to take that in at the moment. You’re probably best off speaking to your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau. Sorry I can’t be of my help. Dan

The respondant claims that the tribunal does not have jurisdiction over the appeal for the reasons shown on the attached document supplied by the respondant. You do really need CAB or like body to clarify what grounds the DWP are using to say that the tribunal have no legal say in their action.The other document should contain the reason for it. Benefit and work website is great for information once you have found the reason. At the moment in this area is it difficult to get to a CAB advisor in short order so if you cannot get to them within a week or so, then I would be inclined to write a short note to the tribunal service stating that you are not clear on the respondents actions and require the services of CAB who will then respond to the respondents reason for you. Please try not to get to stressed, time constraints are what they are a form of harrassment, they are not set in concrete, so if you just write to say you need more time then that is responding. Deep breath and persevere. Hope it all gets sorted for you. Take care Deb

I believe that The MS Society has a person that you can speak to for advice on these sorts of things I don’t know what part of the country you are here, but here are all the contact numbers Give them a call England Tel: 020 8438 0700 Fax: 020 8438 0701 Scotland The MS Society Scotland office at Ratho Park, outside Edinburgh Tel: 0131 335 4050 Fax: 0131 335 4051 Wales MS Society Cymru national office - Temple Court Tel: 029 2078 6676 Fax: 029 2078 6677 Northern Ireland MS Society Northern Ireland national office Tel: 02890 802 802

Hallo Mandy, The clue will be in the attachment, which you haven’t quoted from. For some reason, the Tribunal believes whatever your hubby is asking them to rule about isn’t within their power to decide. They say they have explained the reasons in the attachment. So, if you don’t agree with the reasons in the attachment, you will need to answer saying why. I agree with the other replies that you will probably need specialist help with this. It might be that your hubby really has asked for judgment on a matter the tribunal isn’t allowed to deal with; they don’t have unlimited powers. Or perhaps he has somehow been referred to the wrong tribunal for the type of problem? Alternatively, it might just be that there’s been a misunderstanding. Perhaps the case has been phrased in such a way that the tribunal thinks it’s being asked to decide something it can’t. But if it was phrased differently, perhaps it would clear up the problem? They are definitely NOT saying your hubby’s claim is wrong, or has failed. They’re just saying they don’t think it’s within their remit to decide. Tina x

Whoops - I should have said the other party (to the tribunal) doesn’t believe it’s within the tribunal’s powers to decide. The Tribunal themselves haven’t said that. Sorry! Tina

hi everyone many thanks for all your replies. :slight_smile: i’m not sure that i will be able to get to a cab in time but i may well write and ask for more time so thanks for that suggestion. i’ve not been able to get out today and wont be able to ring anyone until friday. (really cant afford to put credit on my phone right now) my partner hasnt been able to work since march so things are really hard at the moment. anyway this claim has been going on since then and its getting me down a bit now, i tend to be left with stuff like this to deal with and mainly its fine, but why do they need to put into legal speak which is hard for my brain to understand. the letter i have posted came with another letter which says i enclose a notice made by the tribunal judge. it is important you read it carefully. if it is a direction notice it will tell you what has to be done for your appeal to go forward. alternatively if it is a decision notice, it will tell you the outcome of your appeal and be accompanied by a leaflet that will tell you what to do next. signed clerk to the tribunal we didnt get any leaflets at all with it. i think i will just ask for more time and hope that i can ring the ms in wales or cab. i am a member of the benefits and work site but dont even know if i’m appealing against them saying he’s not ill or that hes not paid enough ni contributions. they did tell us initially that they would not pay anything because he has’nt paid enough contributions but how do people who have never worked manage to get benefits !! thank you very much for all who replied… best wishes mandy xxx