The exact date people living in Scotland should stop claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has been revealed by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Starting August 29 this year, Scots with a disability or long-term physical or mental health condition should stop applying for the UK Government benefit and instead claim Adult Disability Payment (ADP) via Social Security Scotland.
The new benefit will replace PIP for over 305,000 existing claimants, as reported by the Daily Record.
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The phased rollout of ADP began on March 21, and is now available to people of working age living in Dundee, Perth and Kinross and the Western Isles.
Early statistics from Social Security Scotland reveal that within the first day of the new benefit's launch, almost 250 part 1 applications had been registered, and almost 100 part 2 applications were received.
While part 1 of the application concerns key personal details of claimants, part 2 is all about their disability or condition.
The data is is based off management information gathered from Social Security Scotland’s case management system. A data cut was extracted on Wednesday, March 23 for internal reporting purposes.
Therefore, the figure has not been quality assured to the same standard as Official Statistics — though a release of Official Statistics on Adult Disability Payment, covering to April 30, 2022, will be released on June 14, 2022.
Adult Disability Payment launch dates
- March 21, 2022: Dundee, Perth and Kinross, the Western Isles
- June, 20 2022: Angus, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire
- July 25, 2022: Fife, North Ayrshire, East Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, Moray, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire
- August 29, 2022 - if you live elsewhere in Scotland
In the newest edition of its Touchbase bulletin, the DWP stated: “ADP will then be launched nationally, across Scotland, from 29 August 2022.
“From 29 August 2022 customers living in Scotland should no longer claim PIP but instead claim ADP.”
Those who already claim PIP will not need to manually apply for ADP, as they will be transferred automatically over to Social Security Scotland's system.
According to the Scottish Government, this “will be done safely and securely so that people will still get the same amount of money, to the same account” with the date of their first payment confirmed in writing before they transfer.
How does Adult Disability Payment differ from PIP?
As stated by the Scottish Government: “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
One of the biggest changes Scottish applicants will see with ADP will be the scrapping of routine face-to-face assessments — which are common when claiming PIP.
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 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 added: “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.”
The Scottish Government also stated that to make sure it does not create a two-tiered system during the transfer process from DWP to Social Security Scotland they will be “largely keeping the eligibility criteria for Adult Disability Payment the same [as PIP].”
In addition, there will be a two-stage independent review of ADP.
“This review will begin later in the year, to consider what further changes and improvements could, and should, be made in the future,” explained Mr Macpherson.
Who will be eligible to make a claim for the Adult Disability Payment?
Eligibility criteria for ADP is similar to that of 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 determine whether a claimant is eligible to receive ADP using their account of their circumstances — as well as existing supporting information where it is available.
The amount of face-to-face assessments will be drastically lowered and will only be required in situations where it is the only feasible way to make a decision.
Claimants will also no longer be required to undergo 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
Payment rates for Adult Disability Payment
Social Security Scotland will provide the same rate of all forms of Disability Assistance as the current rate of the equivalent UK disability benefit (PIP) and will increase in line with inflation each year.
Based on current rates the weekly amounts of Adult Disability Payment are:
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)
How often will my award be reviewed?
In contrast to DWP claims, which are reviewed at regular intervals across a fixed time period, ADP will be rolling and will have no set end date.
Reviews will be ‘light touch’ and as non-intrusive as possible.
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.
Customers who have an existing Motability lease will be able to retain their vehicle until the end of that lease.
