Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has started to be replaced by the new Adult Disability Payment in three pilot areas across Scotland this week.
The launch of the new benefit means that people of working age with a disability, long-term illness or physical or mental health condition, living in Dundee City, Perth and Kinross or the Western Isles will be able to apply for disability assistance to Social Security Scotland - and not the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - from March 21, 2022 onwards.
A phased launch of the new support payment has been scheduled for all 32 council areas across Scotland with nationwide rollout due to begin on August 29, 2022 for existing PIP claimants.
People living in the pilot areas aged between 16 and State Pension age who are disabled, or have a long-term health condition or terminal illness can now make an application online, in person, over the phone or by post.
Existing PIP or Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claimants do not need to make an application for Adult Disability Payment - they will be transferred automatically to the Scottish social security system from the end of August. DLA claimants will be moved over by 2025.
The latest figures released by the DWP show that there are now 305,279 Scots receiving financial support of between £23.70 and £152.15 each week through PIP, an increase of 8,088 from the previous figure of 297,213 in October, 2021.
The new statistics also revealed that some 55% of people entitled to PIP in Scotland are female, and 45% were male.
Further council areas will be introduced in phases until Adult Disability Payment is rolled out nationwide on August 29.
Adult Disability Payment rollout dates
- March 21 - Dundee City, Perth and Kinross or the Western Isles
- June 20 - Angus, North Lanarkshire or South Lanarkshire
- July 25 - Fife, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Moray, North Ayrshire, East Ayrshire or South Ayrshire
- August 29 - if you live elsewhere in Scotland
How to apply for Adult Disability Payment
Social Security Scotland has been working with people with lived experience and relevant organisations to develop all aspects of the disability benefit application process to make it easy and inclusive for people to access support they are entitled to.
There are a number of ways to apply for the new benefit, these include:
- Online
- By post
- Over the phone
- Face-to-face
Social Security Scotland local delivery teams will also be available to provide assistance in all 32 local authority areas.
Current Adult Disability Payment rates
Adult disability Payment will follow the same payment rate structure as PIP, which is made up of two components - daily living and mobility.
Whether you get one or both of these and how much depends on how severely your condition affects you.
You could receive the following amounts per week depending on your circumstances:
Daily living
Standard rate - £60.00 (£61.85 from April 11)
Enhanced rate - £89.60 (£92.40 from April 11)
Mobility
Standard rate - £23.70 (£24.45 from April 11)
Enhanced rate - £62.55 (£64.50 from April 11)
The Scottish Government has also committed to undertaking an independent review of Adult Disability Payment within a year of its full introduction, to consider the eligibility criteria, gather feedback from people who have applied and collect data to inform any proposed changes.
Who will be eligible to make a claim for Adult Disability Payment?
Eligibility is similar to PIP.
This benefit is for people who meet the following criteria:
You are aged between 16 to State Pension age
You have difficulties with daily living or getting around outside your home (or both)
You have had the physical or mental difficulty for at least 3 months and expect it to continue for at least 9 months
If a person is terminally ill these qualifying periods do not apply.
How are claims assessed?
Social Security Scotland will make decisions about entitlement for ADP using the applicant’s account of their circumstances and existing supporting information, where possible.
The number of face-to-face assessments will be significantly reduced and will only be necessary when it is the only practicable way to make a decision.
Claimants will no longer be asked to carry out tasks to demonstrate how their disability, long-term illness or mental health condition affects them as part of the application process.
Examples of supporting information
This will be used to help make a decision about your claim and will include:
a social care needs assessment
a report from a community psychiatric nurse
information from a carer
What are the different between Adult Disability Payment and PIP?
Guidance from the Scottish Government states: “Treating people with dignity, fairness and respect will be at the heart of delivering Adult Disability Payment. It has been designed in partnership with people who will use it.
"Their input has been crucial in designing an improved service.”
Removal of routine face-to-face assessments
There will be no routine face-to-face assessments for Adult Disability Payment.
The Scottish Government said: “People with experience of applying for disability benefits have told us that assessments carried out on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions can be stressful and anxiety inducing.
“Where we cannot make a decision on the available information, people may be invited to a consultation, which can be held virtually or in person. This will be a person-centred conversation with a health and social care practitioner employed by Social Security Scotland. Clients will be informed of everything that has been noted during the consultation and they will have a chance to review and respond to this. The consultation will also be audio recorded to ensure transparency and openness.”
Minister for Social Security Ben Macpherson recently said: “The unanimous passing of the regulations for Adult Disability Payment is a significant milestone for Scotland’s social security system. It means we can now take a very different approach to delivering disability benefits - in comparison to the current DWP system - and our focus is on providing a positive and compassionate experience for people applying for and receiving our new benefit.
“We know people have found applying for DWP disability benefits stressful in the past. That is why we have listened to their experiences and designed our new system to work for people, not against them. We are committed to doing things differently - we are ensuring that accessing Adult Disability Payment is as straightforward as possible and we will always start from a position of trust.”
He continued: “Importantly, we have abolished assessments in the form currently undertaken by the DWP.
“Instead, and only where required, we will hold consultations between the person and a Social Security Scotland health or social care practitioner. Our consultations will not involve functional examinations.”
How often will my award be reviewed?
Unlike DWP payment awards which are reviewed regularly over a fixed-period of time, the ADP will be rolling, with no set end date.
Thousands of people living with a long-term condition is the introduction of an “indefinite award”, the Scottish Government hopes this will alleviate the potential worry caused by the prospect of the length of a payment award, which under PIP guidelines, can be anywhere between three months and 10 years - often referred to as a “light touch” review.
A PIP award review involves the claimant having to complete the assessment process again in order to establish if there has been any change in their needs relating to their condition.
However, Social Security Minister Ben Macpherson recently announced that people awarded the highest levels of Adult Disability Payment awards - enhanced rates for daily living and mobility components - will receive long-term support, through an indefinite award to ensure they do not need to go through an “unnecessary” review when it is “reasonably expected that their situation will not change”.
He explained: “The introduction of indefinite awards, as part of ADP, underlines our commitment to deliver on the principles of Scotland’s social security system to treat people with dignity, fairness and respect. In making this decision, we have engaged with a wide range of people with lived experience of the current system and will continue to listen as we design and build a social security system that works for disabled people.
“We want to ensure that people on the highest levels of Adult Disability Payment awards receive long-term and adequate support, because those with lifelong conditions, or disabilities resulting in needs highly unlikely to change, should not be subject to unnecessary reviews when it is reasonably expected that their situation will not change.
“Under the UK Government’s Personal Independence Payment, similar awards have generally been reviewed between every two to 10 years. However, disabled people tell us that even review periods of 10 years can create stress and anxiety.
“That is why we have decided to introduce indefinite awards - we are determined to do things differently and build a more compassionate system in Scotland.”
Will I still be able to swap all or part of my mobility payment for the Motability Scheme?
People who get the highest rate of the mobility component of ADP will be able to transfer either the whole or part of the money they get for the mobility component to access the Accessible Vehicles and Equipment Scheme .
This new Scottish scheme will provide a service similar to the current Motability scheme, with a range of cars, wheelchair accessible vehicles, scooters and powered wheelchairs on affordable leasing terms, with a range of adaptations at little or no cost.
Clients who have an existing Motability lease will be able to retain their vehicle until the end of that lease.
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