Social Security Scotland has announced that work is underway to speed up processing times for Adult and Child Disability Payment applications, two new devolved benefits which have now replaced new claims for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability Living Allowance for Children (DLA for Child) for people living in Scotland.
Social Security Scotland said that the “majority of people will receive a decision within four months” but added that processing times can vary from a “few weeks to six months” in a small number of “very complex cases”. The current end-to-end processing time for PIP, delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is also an average of 16 weeks.
Scotland’s devolved welfare system said that some decisions are taking longer because new claimants have been unable to provide the supporting information needed to make a decision and asked Social Security Scotland to gather it for them. It said that collecting this information is a key difference between the Scottish system and the DWP.
It added: “No two applications are the same, and how long it takes to give people a decision will vary.”
Social Security Scotland also said it does not carry out DWP-style assessments, aiming to make the right decision based on the application and supporting information. However, it added that when it is the only way to make a decision, people applying for Adult Disability Payment are invited to a consultation with one of its in-house health or social care professionals who will “treat them with compassion and start from a position of trust”.
An update on the website states: “At the moment, some decisions are taking longer than we would like. In many cases, this is because people have been unable to provide the supporting information needed to make a decision and have asked us to gather it on their behalf.
“While gathering information on behalf of clients takes time, it allows us to make robust decisions. It is particularly important for those who would be unable to gather this information on their own.
“If someone has supporting information available, we encourage them to provide it with their application, as this allows us to make robust decisions faster.”
Social Security Scotland said that people often have the supporting information it needs but do not realise it. Examples of supporting information are medical reports, a social care assessment, a prescription list or test results . Examples of supporting information are available on MyGov.Scot here.
Improving processing times
Social Security Scotland said: “We want to help people know what to expect when awaiting a decision on one of our disability payments.
“At the moment, the majority of people will receive a decision within four months, although processing times vary from a few weeks to six months in a small proportion of very complex cases.
“Work is underway to speed up our processing times. This includes liaising with the organisations who most often provide us with supporting information to improve our systems and make decision-making more efficient.”
One example of this involves an option for GPs to upload supporting information online.
It also said that providing decisions as quickly as possible remains a priority, while also ensuring they get decisions right, first time.
It added that eligible claimants will receive payments backdated to the point of application.
“Although this may mean people sometimes need to wait a bit longer for a decision, we hope ultimately it will avoid the need for them to ask for a re-determination or to appeal,” Social Security Scotland said.
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