A Glasgow woman has described part of the new Adult Disability Payment (ADP) assessment process as 'cruel' and backs calls to scrap the 20 metre rule.
Catriona Halket, 65, suffers from MS and believes the Government's ruling that anyone who can walk more than 20 metres, even with aids, will no longer qualify for the highest rate of the PIP mobility support is hampering her independence.
The woman from Knightswood has relied on the support since she was first diagnosed in 2000.
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The mother of two said: “The 20 metre rule is ridiculous.
"It’s cruel. Like most people with MS I want to keep what little independence I have for as long as I can.
"Where does 20 metres get you? I could maybe get out of my garden gate but I couldn’t go anywhere, there’s nothing within reach. Although I live in Glasgow, there are no shops I could reach, I couldn’t reach a bus stop even if I could get on a bus. I couldn’t get to the doctor or a dentist. You’ve got to get somebody to take you or get a taxi if you want to do anything or go anywhere."
“I have Secondary Progressive MS, which as the name says will not improve but will worsen over time. To say if you can walk 20 metres you don’t deserve to get the higher level of mobility is wrong. You’ve got to be able to reach places and do things. You want to live.
“My mobility is not great. I don’t really leave the house, I stay in the house and the garden. I can’t really walk very much at all. In the house I either use a stick or two sticks. But if I’m using one stick, one hand’s got a stick and the other hand’s on the wall. I can’t balance, my balance isn’t good. I’ve fallen in the house a few times and I tore a ligament in my ankle just getting up from a chair.
“I’ve got a wheelchair that I use if I go out with my family. And if I’m in the kitchen I use my power wheelchair because I can’t walk about with a stick and hold a cup of coffee or a plate of food. I would drop them. I really need to be in the wheelchair if I’m carrying anything.
“It’s hard to say how long I’ve been like this because it sort of creeps up on you. Things get gradually worse and you don’t really realise. It’s got worse even over the past few months but I’ve been like this for about 10 years.
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“With Disability Living Allowance (DLA) I had the highest level of mobility allowance and was given it for life, which meant I did not have the stress of applying every year.”
The Government has said everyone in Scotland currently in receipt of the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) PIP will have switched over to ADP, which is managed by Social Security Scotland, by summer 2025.
Charity, MS Society, have launched a petition to discard the 20 metre rule and has so far been signed by over 3,000 people.
Morna Simpkins, Director of MS Society Scotland, said: “The 20 metre rule is an unfair and unacceptable method of assessment. It punishes people with fluctuating health conditions such as MS, which is unpredictable and different for everyone.
“The Scottish Government has an opportunity to build a world-leading social security system that gives disabled people in Scotland, including the 15,000-plus living with MS, fair access to the benefits they need and deserve. Currently the 20 metre rule is stopping that happening.
“We urge everyone living with MS in Scotland to respond to the consultation and show the Government why it needs to urgently update the mobility component of ADP.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Using the powers we have, we are committed to delivering a social security system that treats people with dignity, fairness and respect.
“We have made several improvements to Adult Disability Payment over Personal Independence Payments, the benefit it replaces. These include substantial improvements to the application and decision-making process.
“The eligibility rules for Adult Disability Payment have remained largely the same as under PIP while people’s payments are transferred from the UK Government to Social Security Scotland by 2025. We cannot create a two tier system, while case transfer takes place.
“However we recognise that there is considerable interest from disabled people and stakeholders about the eligibility criteria for the mobility component and we are consulting on the eligibility criteria for the mobility component to seek a broad range of views on this matter.
“The Scottish Government is committed to beginning an independent review of Adult Disability Payment later this year.”
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