The government has confirmed that it will not revise decisions very close to the appeal hearing date as it may put undue pressure on claimants-
'we have made improvements to the process to help ensure claimants do not feel pressured to have their decision revised in circumstances where we are able to revise the decision but not to the level the claimant was seeking on appeal. For example, Decision Makers have been issued with a Best Practice Memorandum reminding them that they must contact formal representatives in the first instance and that they must inform claimants of their appeal rights at the start of the phone call. Further, to avoid placing the claimant under undue time pressure close to the hearing date, Presenting Officers are no longer contacting claimants where they can revise the decision but not to the level that the claimant is seeking at appeal. In these cases the Presenting Officer instead allows the appeal to continue and informs the First-tier Tribunal of the Department’s revised decision.
Decision letters have also been revised to make clearer the further appeal rights against revised decisions. Where a decision is revised before a tribunal hearing, claimants are notified of the revised decision, as well as further appeal rights against that decision, in writing. A notification is also sent to HMCTS to inform them that the appeal has lapsed. It should not be the case that claimants become aware of a lapsed appeal on the day of the hearing, save in circumstances where DWP was able to revise the decision to the level the claimant was seeking on appeal but has been unable to reach the individual to inform them of this.'
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