Chamber and committees

We will consider the effectiveness of our communications as part of our wider evaluation of the case transfer process, which will form part of our wider published strategy for evaluating the policy impacts of the devolution of disability benefits.

We are developing plans for the case transfer evaluation, which will include a focus on individuals moving from DLA to ADP, and it is expected that the evaluation of the case transfer process will draw on data from multiple sources, including management information, Social Security Scotland research activity and qualitative evidence from those who have experience of the case transfer process. We expect to publish an evaluation report on the case transfer process in summer 2023, and are continuing to consider appropriate reporting timelines in line with our developing evaluation plans.

In terms of the statistical question, quarterly reporting of ADP statistics will begin from 14 June 2022. The content of these statistics will expand over time and we intend for information on case transfers and reviews to be included in future cycles of that reporting. As part of that, we expect to include information relating to the change in clients’ awards following post-transfer reviews.

Good morning, and thank you for inviting me to give evidence on the draft Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Transitional Provisions and Miscellaneous Amendment) Regulations 2022.

I am grateful for our recent discussion on case transfer more generally, which I hope that members found useful. I also appreciate the work of the committee to date in considering the case transfer provisions for people whose awards are moving from disability living allowance to child disability payment and from personal independence payment to adult disability payment. The draft regulations that we are discussing today mirror the processes in the regulations on those benefits in many ways, but there are some key differences, which I will come to shortly.

As I have set out to the committee and Parliament before, we are determined to ensure that case transfer is a seamless process and that we transfer people’s awards safely and securely. It is not a simple administrative process. We are refining information from Department for Work and Pensions systems, some of which are decades old, and transferring it to Social Security Scotland’s new, agile single benefits system. Ensuring that we have the right information and that no one falls out of payment across the total of approximately 700,000 awards that will transfer is a project that takes planning and time. We are doing that work at pace, while ensuring that we do not risk the process’s being undertaken in a safe and secure way. Protecting payments is our absolute focus. The benefits in question are payments of money that people rely on, and we will make sure that recipients continue to get paid the right amount of money at the time that they expect.

From 13 June, we will pilot the PIP transfer, with full transfer beginning at the end of August with the national introduction of our adult disability payment. At that point, adults who receive disability living allowance and would otherwise be required to apply for PIP will start to have their awards selected for transfer. It is that transfer, which is known as natural case transfer, that we are here to discuss.

The draft regulations will ensure that a Scottish resident who was born after 8 April 1948 will have their DLA award selected for transfer to ADP if one of the following three criteria is met: a change of circumstance relevant to the DLA award is reported; the DLA award is due to be renewed; or the person asks to have their DLA award transferred. Once the transfer completes, the person’s initial ADP award will be a like-for-like copy of their DLA award. Then, because the eligibility rules for DLA and ADP are different, the person’s award will be reviewed and ADP rules will apply.

I must make it clear that that review will mean that some people’s awards will stay the same, while other people’s awards may be increased, reduced or ended. That said, the process will not be a repeat of the DWP’s transition from DLA to PIP. In line with our case transfer principles, people will not have to apply for ADP in the way that they had to for PIP. Instead, they will be supported through a review process. People who undergo that review will have our new forms of support available to them through our local delivery service and our independent advocacy service. People will have the enhanced rights that we have built into ADP available at every stage of the process.

I will briefly outline that support. We have replaced the adversarial approach of the DWP through the removal of assessments and degrading examinations. We start from a position of trust in what people tell us. The onus will be on Social Security Scotland to collect information on people’s behalf. The agency will need to collect only one piece of formal supporting information when it makes a decision. Short-term assistance will also be available for anyone who has a reduced or nil award after the review and wishes to seek a redetermination or appeal.

We are also exploring ways of providing support to anyone who may lose the enhanced mobility component on review, given the impact that that will have on their ability to continue to access the accessible vehicles and equipment scheme. I will update the committee on that as soon as I can.

We have designed the process to be as supportive as possible, while acknowledging the challenges that moving between different benefits with different rules could create. I believe that, with the regulations, we have struck the right balance.

I will be happy to take questions.

I cannot speak for individual circumstances after the review, because that will be part of the review process under the eligibility rules for ADP. However, we have explored a number of options for people who might see a reduction in their award or might receive a nil award when their ADP is reviewed, and I will just set out some of those different options now.

We will support people in a number of ways. First, as I have stated, we are ensuring that individuals transfer at their current award level in the first instance, so that they can be supported through the review process. We are also, as I said in response to the deputy convener, setting out clearly in advance the support available to them through our local delivery service and independent advocacy service.

Individuals will benefit from the changes that we have made to ADP to ensure that they are treated with dignity, fairness and respect. For example, we will trust what they tell us. We will place the onus on Social Security Scotland to collect information on people’s behalf during the review and require only one piece of formal supporting information. An important point is that people will have the right to challenge any decision that sees their award reduced or results in their getting a nil award, and they will have access to short-term assistance through that process. The situation for people will, as a result, be a significant improvement on their situation had they been in the DWP system.

As I said in my opening statement, we have thought about how this process will affect individuals. First, there is the case transfer process and then there is the review, which is what I think—if I am not mistaken—you are referring to. The very clear position is that, at the end of the case transfer process, no one should be worse off than they would have been, had they stayed with the DWP.

As for the review of cases, which of course will happen in due course, the differentiation in our system is that, if an award is increased after being reviewed, that increase will be backdated to the point of case transfer, ensuring that no one misses out. That sort of backdating does not happen in the current system.

If an award is decreased, that change will only take effect from the date of the decision, which means that there will be no overpayment that the person will be asked to repay. That clear difference will be of advantage to people.

I would refer you to what has just been said. I would also point out that we also have to transfer people on PIP and that we need rules that are consistent and like for like with PIP. We have 300,000 PIP case transfers to undertake.

As I said, any increase will be from the date of case transfer. In terms of a reduction or a nil award, there is the process of case transfer—which will take 13 to 17 weeks—and then there is the review, which takes time, and then any redetermination or appeal.

There might be circumstances where, under the DWP system, the time before the reduction was applied would have been longer but, in a significant number of circumstances, we anticipate that, in the event of a decrease or a nil award, people will generally be better off within our system, because of short-term assistance and the fact that we will apply the decrease only from the date of final decision rather than date of transfer or change of circumstance, which is the situation with the DWP. Kate Thomson-McDermott can say a bit more about that.

Mr Kelly, if there is anything that you want to add from an agency perspective, feel free to do so, but members will be aware that our determination is to get more decisions right first time. The process that I have set out regarding how people have moved from DLA to PIP is background information, but we are at the beginning of the process when it comes to Social Security Scotland.

First, I reiterate my comment about encouraging people to get independent advice and to utilise the resources that the Scottish Government is making available in that respect. What Social Security Scotland can do is advise on individual entitlement by describing to people what, given their circumstances, will be the situation for them; as I have emphasised, everyone’s circumstances will be different. However, we strongly advise people to take independent advice from the advocacy service and through the welfare provision that I outlined in my answer to the deputy convener.

We had hoped to be able to tell the committee about this today. We are working closely with Motability to ensure that those who move on to the accessible vehicle scheme can access the transitional protection scheme provided for individuals who lose their enhanced mobility award when transferring from DLA. As Mr Balfour will be aware, there are different rules, depending on when the individual joined the Motability scheme. In most cases, however, the client will be allowed to keep the vehicle for eight weeks after the end of entitlement and will receive a £2,000 payment.

We are nearing formal agreement of this approach with Motability, and we just need to continue our discussions with it, but I will be happy to write to the committee when it is confirmed. We are seeking to do that as soon as possible.

In my opening statement, I talked about the three circumstances in which people would be part of the cohort transferring under these regulations, or what we call natural case transfer. There is still managed case transfer for those transferring from working age disability living allowance to ADP, and we have considerations to undertake in that respect, but the position is clear: clients to whom any of the three different situations apply will be selected as part of this process.

Of course, we have worked to ensure that people do not have to undergo the sort of DWP-style assessment that they have when they are asked to apply for PIP. A lot of the motivation for putting the natural case transfer process in place was to prevent people from having to go through that PIP assessment process. Instead, they will simply be transferred on to ADP, after which their situation will be reviewed in due course.