Hated disability ‘benefit’ to be replaced in Scotland – with no dreaded face-to-face assessments
Meanwhile, in England and Wales: it’s not quite this bad but the death toll suggests it might as well be.
It’s easy to understand why the Scottish National Party is so popular north of the border – it actually fulfils its promises.
For example: it is replacing the hated Tory Personal Independence Payment for people living with disabilities.
The new Adult Disability Payment will be phased in next year, providing financial support to cover the extra costs faced by people with disabilities.
The SNP-run Scottish government has announced that the benefit will take a new approach, to ensure dignity, fairness and respect.
According to the Daily Record:
Social Security Scotland will make decisions about entitlement for ADP using the applicant’s account of their circumstances and existing supporting information, where possible.
The number of face-to-face assessments will be significantly reduced and will only be necessary when it is the only practicable way to make a decision.
Most consultations will be carried out over the phone, but can be face-to-face in a GP surgery or even at home – whatever works best for the person applying.
And claimants will no longer be asked to carry out tasks to demonstrate how their disability, long-term illness or mental health condition affects them as part of the application process.
This promises to be a huge improvement. Also helpful will be the provision of supporting material which may include a social care needs assessment, a report from a Community Psychiatric Nurse, and information from a carer.
As a carer myself, This Writer would have loved to be able to submit information to support Mrs Mike’s PIP (and ESA) claims.
But anything can seem good before it has actually been tested.
I would like to hear from claimants of the new benefit, once it starts coming in. Let’s hope they say good things about it.
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Mike, you can supply information to support Mrs Mike’s PIP or ESA claim by doing a detailed letter with bullet points informing of the care given and also what the consequences of not having that support would be. You can even supply a ‘7 day diary’ of her care needs that you give. Ensure you are down as her ‘primary carer’ at your GP’s and disclose this fact in any supporting letters for ESA or PIP.
I was forced to submit for ‘medicals’ for both PIP and ESA. I was refused for PIP and when reapplying the agreed with the grounds they’d previously disagreed with and, you’ve guessed it, disagreed with the ones they previously agreed with. This meant I wen through the appeals process where I witnessed someone being refused who VERY obviously should’ve had their claim granted, but she was ‘common’ and didn’t speak with the right accent (the ONLY thing I can think of) The process is long, drawn out and deliberately humiliating. At the appeal I was berated (a doctor of all people) by a member of the panel before, eventually, the judge stepped in to stop it and, much to my surprise, I was granted PIP.
Hopefully, as a resident of Scotland, my next renewal will be under the new system and be less troubling. What got to me were the ‘trick questions’ that were asked and that basically if you could turn up you were considered fit. The process is especially hard for anyone who is claiming due to severe mental health issues. You aren’t believed as it is, then you face someone whose job it is is to call you a liar.
We’ll see how it goes.