Chamber and committees

Department for Work and Pensions submission of 18 October 2021

PE1854/F: Review the adult disability payment eligibility criteria for people with mobility needs

The MS Society has previously raised a number of issues with DWP concerning the rules for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), including those relating to access to the mobility component. 

The construction of Child Disability Payment (CDP) and Adult Disability Payment (ADP) is, of course, a matter for the Scottish Government. 

Some reserved benefits include additional amounts in respect of disability and care needs. Entitlement to these amounts depends on individuals meeting specified criteria which includes receipt of other specified benefits or certain elements or components of them. The level of support varies across all the reserved income related benefits and the links to the disability benefits also vary. For example, receipt of the daily living or enhanced daily living care component in PIP, the middle or higher rate of care component in Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Attendance Allowance (AA) is part of the qualifying criteria which can give rise to an additional amount for severe disability in Pension Credit, although again there are other conditions that need to be satisfied including no-one being paid Carer’s Allowance to look after them.

Once PIP, DLA and AA have been replaced in Scotland, DWP will need to find an alternative way of identifying those with the relevant additional disability or care needs for the purposes of calculating entitlement to reserved benefits, which will continue to use qualifying benefits as part of the overall criteria. In the immediate term, the Secretary of State has decided that receipt of the equivalent elements of CDP and ADP will be the means of identifying these needs in order to satisfy the current eligibility criteria for reserved benefits. The way of identifying those needs will be kept under review as the disability and carer benefit landscapes evolve.