Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government sought views on the eligibility criteria for Disability Assistance for Older People as part of our recent Consultation on Disability Assistance in Scotland. We will continue to engage with stakeholders, including Experience Panels, as required during the development of the regulations for Disability Assistance for Older People.

There is no additional cost associated with increasing the qualifying age of Disability Assistance for Working Age People in line with the state pension age as the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will also increase the qualifying age for equivalent reserved disability benefits in line with state pension age.

The document has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre, Bib No. 61150.

The Scottish Government remains committed to ensuring that everybody who can and wants to work has the opportunity to find fulfilling and sustainable employment, and that those facing barriers to employment, including many disabled people, can access any additional support they need.

We are continuing with our preparations to develop a new provision to replace DWP’s Specialist Employability Support scheme. This includes Scottish Government officials engaging with key stakeholders to ensure we understand the needs of individuals, including the specific needs of disabled people in Scotland for whom more mainstream employment support is not appropriate.

As stated within A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: Employment Action Plan the creation of a bespoke Scottish support service is subject to clarification of the UK Government funding settlement. This funding has still to be confirmed and we are in ongoing discussions with the DWP on the level of funding to be transferred to Scotland as part of the devolution settlement.

Our devolved employability service, Fair Start Scotland, offers tailored specific support for individuals, recognising their skills and helping them to realise their employment aspirations. In considering DWP’s Intensive Personalised Employment Support (IPES) offer we have identified some key similarities with the current support provided under Fair Start Scotland, which we are therefore keen to explore further with stakeholders. Our intention remains to ensure that there is support in place from January 2020 that meets the specific needs of disabled people in Scotland for whom more mainstream employment support is not appropriate.

Scottish Government analysis of the inclusion of a mobility component in Disability Assistance for Older People (DAOP) suggests that around 10,000 people could receive the standard rate and around 180,000 people could receive the enhanced rate in 2020-21.

There is significant uncertainty associated with estimating the number of individuals who would be eligible for and receive a mobility component of DAOP. This analysis uses the existing Disability Living Allowance (DLA) 65+ client group as the best comparison to DAOP and generates client numbers for a DAOP mobility component as if it followed the same claiming patterns as DLA 65+. However, there may be some fundamental differences between the people receiving the two benefits, such as the average age of clients in each group, which means the estimates using the DLA 65+ client group as a comparison to DAOP are intended to provide an illustration of the potential scale of the volume of mobility clients.

The calculations and analysis that were used to inform the Scottish Government’s decision not to include a mobility component in Disability Assistance for Older People can be found in A Consultation on Disability Assistance in Scotland, Scottish Government response, published 28 October 2019 at.

https://www.gov.scot/publications/consultation-disability-assistance-scotland-scottish-government-response/pages/2/ .

A partial equality impact assessment was carried out as part of the Consultation on Disability Assistance in Scotland held earlier this year. This can be found on the Scottish Government’s website:  https://www.gov.scot/publications/social-security-consultation-disability-assistance-scotland/pages/12/

A full equality impact assessment will be published when regulations are laid for Disability Assistance for Older People.

I refer the Member to the answer to question S5W-25652 on 30 October 2019. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at: http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

As set out in the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (‘the Act’) and stated in the Disability Assistance in Scotland consultation, an individual will have the right to request a redetermination of any entitlement decision made by Social Security Scotland relating to Disability Assistance. This will include any determination made following notification of a change in circumstances. If the individual is dissatisfied with the outcome of the redetermination, they can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal.

Provisions relating to notification of a change of circumstances will be set out in regulations but the right of appeal relating to a determination is already provided for in the Act.

As indicated in the Disability Assistance in Scotland consultation, Disability Assistance regulations will include provision to review awards where individuals notify of a change of circumstances that may affect the level of assistance they receive.

Where the outcome of a review is a new entitlement decision, a client will have the right to request a redetermination of that decision and, where they are not satisfied with the redetermination, will be able to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal.