Chamber and committees

Citizens Advice Scotland submission of 3 December 2021

PE1854/H - Review the adult disability payment eligibility criteria for people with mobility needs

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Removal of the 20m rule

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) has long called for the removal of the 20m rule assessment, firstly in Personal Independence Payment (PIP), and now in Adult Disability Payment (ADP). We believe the Scottish Government should reconsider how it assesses an individual’s entitlement to the enhanced rate of the mobility component of ADP.

Our position is that the criteria for entitlement to the enhanced mobility component should be increased from 20 metres to at least 50 metres, while criteria more fitting with the social model of disability is developed. In a recent survey, carried out over February 2021, the majority of CAB advisers surveyed agreed that the 20m rule should be increased to 50m to qualify for enhanced mobility.

While we acknowledge the Scottish Government’s position that amending the 20m rule now, rather than following the planned review of disability benefits in 2023 carries a risk that there will be a two-tier system – PIP claimants assessed at 20m and ADP claimants assessed using a longer range – this risk is likely to happen at the point of review. With the review taking place so soon after ADP is implemented, there will be many claimants still on PIP at the time of the review.

The Scottish Government’s intention is that:

“Adult Disability Payment is intended to be person centred, taking into account the specific needs of each client. This should bring about a marked improvement in the experience of disabled people in interacting with the social security system.”

In addition, the Scottish Government’s response to the ADP consultation states that:

“We intend to move away from a medical model of disability.”

This move away from a medical model in the way decisions are made is welcome, however, this approach should also be applied to the 20m rule. A functional assessment, such as of walking limitation over a set distance, assesses the claimant’s inability to perform a function as a result of their impairment and is therefore a medial model approach to assessment. In Beyond a Safe and Secure Transition – A Long-term Vision for Disability Assistance in Scotland, the Scottish Campaign on Rights to Social Security, of which CAS is a member, called for disability assistance to better reflect social and human rights models of disability.

Having distance criteria for the mobility component for ADP jars with the mobility component for the Child Disability Payment and could result in young people losing a key benefit, integral to their independence, at a key point in their lives. The Child Disability Payment requires a child or young person to be virtually “unable to walk”, a different test to the ADP and one potentially difficult for families to navigate seamlessly.

Risk to reserved/passported benefits

The CAS position is that there would be no known disadvantages to people claiming ADP or PIP from removing the 20m rule. Increasing the assessed distance (or use of another criteria) will increase entitlement for people on the standard rate, but as it is not an entitlement to other DWP benefits should not have a negative impact in terms of claims to other benefits.

While we acknowledge increasing the distance reviewed before developing a social model assessment will bring additional people onto enhanced mobility ADP resulting in an additional cost to Social Security Scotland, the cost of the previous reduction across DLA and PIP to 20m was significant for both the claimant and other public bodies. The financial costs included loss of Motability vehicles and loss of exemption from Vehicle Excise Duty, but that this in turn led to wider societal costs through job losses and strain on family members having to provide additional support. In The Cost of the PIP 20 metre rule, the MS Society assessed that disabled people were more likely to access NHS support and other benefits as a result of this lost income.

Summary

CAS is calling for the removal of the 20m rule.

• This view is supported by the majority of CAB advisers.
• Any distance criteria does not meet the Government’s intention of a person centred, non-medical model approach to assessment.
• The 20m rule makes transitioning from child to adult disability benefits potentially difficult.
• There would be no known disadvantages to people claiming ADP or PIP from removing the 20m rule.