Adult Disability Payment has already replaced Personal Independence Payments (PIP) for new claimants applying for financial support in Dundee, Perth and Kinross and the Western Isles.
The next pilot areas to open for applications from new claimants will be in Angus, North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire on June 20. Adult Disability Payment is extra money to help people over 16 and under State Pension age who are living with a disability or long-term health condition that affects their everyday life.
The benefit will be administered by Social Security Scotland and while eligibility will be largely similar to PIP, which is delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), one of the main differences between the two disability benefits is the way assessments or consultations are conducted.
The biggest change is the removal of face-to-face assessments, something the Scottish Government guidance clarifies in an online Adult Disability Payment Q&A factsheet.
It states: “We have replaced controversial private sector face to face assessments with compassionate consultations.
“A consultation will be a compassionate conversation between a client and a health and social care practitioner focused on the client’s needs.”
This consultation will also be audio-recorded, although claimants can opt out of this.
Social Security Scotland explains that consultations will be recorded to make sure the health professional conducting it has noted everything claimants tell them.
It could also be handy to have a record of the conversation if an appeal against the decision is made.
The Scottish Government stated in a new impact assessment published last week that it is also “working to ensure that individual consultations are as transparent as possible”.
The publication explains: “We have also considered how informal observations should be applied in individual consultations.”
It states that practitioners will be provided with specific guidance, training and resources regarding informal observations.
“Individuals must also be made aware of what informal observations are, why they are being made, and the impact they will have,” the guidance said.
It goes on to say how all informal observations will also be made known to the individual so that they have the opportunity to challenge or comment on the observation.
It added: “This will provide a transparent consultation service by ensuring that individuals are aware of what is being reported and recorded.”
People already receiving PIP will not need to apply for Adult Disability Payment as their awards will be transferred automatically to Social Security Scotland.
More than 305,000 existing claimants will start to move from the DWP system to Social Security Scotland from August 29.
Even if Adult Disability Payment opens in your area before this date, DWP will deal with existing PIP claimants and any queries until August 29.
The Scottish Government confirmed this migration “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.
Adult Disability Payment rollout dates
- Applications now open - 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
To keep up to date with the changes to PIP in Scotland, join our Money Saving Scotland Facebook group here, follow Record Money on Twitter here, or subscribe to our twice weekly newsletter here.
