Closed petition PE1854: Review the adult disability payment eligibility criteria for people with mobility needs

Background information

The Adult disability payment (ADP) will replace Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in Scotland and will be delivered by Social Security Scotland.

The Scottish Government is currently consulting on the ADP and the draft Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations describe the detailed criteria, rules and processes for delivery of the payments.

We want the Scottish Government to remove the 20 metre rule from the proposed ADP framework for the highest rate of mobility support within the new disability assistance - a position which is supported by Citizens Advice Scotland.

For people living with MS, the biggest change in PIP has been the introduction of the 20 metre rule. This measure of mobility means that people who are able to walk even the smallest distance over 20 metres can no longer get the highest level of financial support under PIP.

Since PIP began to replace Disability Living Allowance in 2013, one in three people with MS moving over to this benefit have had their support downgraded, including one in ten who have lost support altogether. This is happening even though MS is a progressive condition where people’s needs are only likely to increase.

The UK Government has never been able to produce any evidence that people who can walk over 20 metres have lower levels of need for mobility support. In June 2018 we produced our report ‘PIP: A step too far’ which looked at the impact of the changes on people living with MS. Further research was then carried out and published in our report of April 2019 ‘The cost of the PIP 20 metre rule.’ We found that over the (then) spending review period of 2020-2023 “the total knock-on costs to the UK Government outweigh what it will save by reducing PIP support for people with MS via the 20 metre rule” Additional research was then published in November 2019 focussing on the application, assessment and decision making processes - ‘PIP fails: how the PIP process betrays people with MS’.

The basis for the proposed ADP are the principles of dignity, fairness and respect. Throughout the consultation period stakeholders from across Scotland have highlighted concerns about the PIP assessment framework and how it is unfair. In fact the Scottish Government consultation document highlights this and says, "making changes to the mobility or 50% rules in isolation could further embed unfairness in to the framework". This admission that the framework is unfair goes against the principles that underpin the regulations associated with ADP.

Many aspects of our findings are reflected in the Scottish Government’s ‘Welfare Reform Report ’ which looked at the impact of welfare reforms on disabled people citing the Lived Experience Panels and comparing the differing approaches between the UK and Scottish Government. So it is disappointing that currently the Scottish Government is looking to retain such a discredited assessment criteria.

The Scottish Government should be thinking creatively as to how it can support people whom would otherwise have been in receipt of the higher level mobility payment if it feels it has to continue with the 20 metre rule. For example, how feasible would it be to introduce a mobility allowance in a manner similar to the Carers Allowance Supplement? A review and design exercise should be carried out with disabled people, charities and healthcare professionals to design an agreed appropriate alternative. In the meantime the 50 metre threshold should be reinstated.