Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment (ADP): call for evidence and consultation analysis - easy read

Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment (ADP): Analysis of responses to a public consultation and call for evidence - Easy Read Version

Introduction

The Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment is looking at how well Adult Disability Payment works and if it could be better.

We asked people to tell us about their experiences of Adult Disability Payment in:

• A consultation
• A call for evidence
• 8 events for people to tell us about their experience in person

This report tells you about the things people told us most often.

Take-up of Adult Disability Payment

Not everyone who could get Adult Disability Payment applies for it:

• Some people don’t know it exists
• Some people don’t know they could get it
• Some people worry what other people think of them being on benefits
• People who had bad experiences with DWP are worried that will happen again
• Some people find applying too stressful

People suggested ways to let people know about Adult Disability Payment:

• More adverts
• GPs, community link workers or social care workers could help raise awareness

People suggested ways to help more people apply for Adult Disability Payment:

• Individual support for people who need it
• Making the application process better
• Showing that Social Security Scotland treats people fairly

Eligibility Check

An eligibility checker could let people see if they would be entitled to Adult Disability Payment before they apply.

Most people said an eligibility checker would be a good thing. It could save people who wouldn’t qualify time and energy.

Some things people said should be part of an eligibility checker were:

• How a condition affects the person’s daily life
• The person’s mental health
• What help the person needs
• The person’s financial circumstances

Some people worried about people getting wrong advice if the eligibility checker isn’t accurate.

Pre-application support for Adult Disability Payment

Not many people who answered knew about pre-application support for Adult Disability Payment:

• 1 in 5 knew about the Local Delivery Service
• 1 in 10 had used the Local Delivery Service
• Less than 1 in 10 had used the Independent Advocacy Service

Things people said might help raise awareness of the pre-application support included:

• More advertising

• Social media outreach

• More information on Social Security Scotland’s website

Good things people said about the pre-application support were:

• Staff were helpful and friendly
• People felt they were treated fairly
• People could meet in their preferred place

Things people said could be better about pre-application support included:

• Shorter waiting times for appointments
• Better communication with third-party organisations like welfare benefits advisers

• Better staff training
• Advice should be clearly impartial
• Telephone lines just for them

Rules about who can get Adult Disability Payment: Daily Living Activities

People had lots of different opinions about the daily living part of the Adult Disability Payment application form:

• About half of the people said it is hard to understand
• Some people thought it is easy to understand
• Some people weren’t sure

People said the daily living activities are vague and difficult to relate to real life.

Ways people said the daily living part of the Adult Disability Payment application form could be easier to understand:

• Using simpler language
• Using more pictures
• Making it easier to get support to apply

People said it’s hard to show the impact of their conditions on their life using the daily living part of the Adult Disability Payment application form.

Ways people suggested to make the daily living part of the Adult Disability Payment application process better:

• Making the activities more inclusive of all conditions
• Making it clearer how points are given to applications
• Having better training for Social Security Scotland staff for certain conditions

People thought that the daily living part of the Adult Disability Payment application process is too focussed on physical conditions and hard to apply to other conditions like:

• Fluctuating conditions
• Long covid
• ME/chronic fatigue syndrome
• Autism spectrum disorder
• Mental health conditions

Rules about who can get Adult Disability Payment: Reliability Criteria

People had lots of different opinions about the reliability criteria, some people said they:

• are easy to understand
• are not easy to understand
• weren’t sure

Ways people said the reliability criteria could be easier to understand:

• A better explanation of what a “reasonable time period” means
• More examples
• The reliability criteria could be explained in the application form

Adult Disability Payment application form

2 in 3 people who answered said that the daily living part of the Adult Disability Payment application lets Social Security Scotland understand someone’s needs.

1 in 3 people said it doesn’t work.

Reasons people said the daily living part of the application form doesn’t work:

• The application doesn’t reflect some conditions or get all the information needed
• The application is too long
• People say completing the application makes them feel bad

Fluctuating Conditions

7 in 10 people said the daily living part of the Adult Disability Payment application form doesn’t work to understand fluctuating conditions.

Some people said they struggle to describe the effect of their conditions, especially if they have more than one condition.

People said different things about the fluctuating conditions section of the Adult Disability Payment application form:

• Some people said it was confusing
• Some people said it let them represent their condition well enough

Things that people said might make the fluctuating conditions section of the Adult Disability Payment application process better:

• Changing the 50% rule, maybe to 30% or using a sliding scale
• Considering the wider effect of completing a task on someone’s life

Some people said that changing the fluctuating conditions section might cause problems:

• It might make the application form longer or harder to complete
• It might cost the Scottish Government a lot of money

Decision-making

3 in 5 people said the Adult Disability Payment decision-making process worked to understand someone’s daily living needs.

2 in 5 people said the Adult Disability Payment decision-making process didn’t work to understand someone’s daily living needs.

People who said the decision-making process was not effective said:

• The application form should be better
• Some people felt their supporting information was ignored

Consultations

Only a few people who answered had a consultation as part of their Adult Disability Payment application.

Most people who had consultations had them on the phone.

Good things people said about their consultation were:

• The practitioner was polite and clear
• The consultation happened at a time that suited them

Some people said it should be clearer that people can have a consultation in a way that suits them.

This can be:

• On the phone
• In person
• By video call

Getting a decision

Most people who got a decision on their Adult Disability Payment application understood it.

Some people said decisions didn’t match the supporting information they gave Social Security Scotland.

People said communication about decisions should be better:

• Decision letters should be clearer about why points were given
• Decisions should be sent in the way the best suits the person, like large print

Re-determinations

Positive things people said about the re-determinations process were being able to:

• send a personal statement
• give supporting information multiple ways

Less positive things people said about the re-determinations process:

• People feel they wait too long for decisions
• Some people don’t know how to ask for a re-determination
• Some people think it will be too stressful to get a re-determination

Some people don’t know that their award can be reduced by asking for a re-determination.

Some people said that people should be able to review their whole application before a re-determination.

Review periods

2 in 5 people who answered said they had a review of their Adult Disability Payment award.

Things people said were good about their review were:

• Not having to have a face-to-face assessment
• Communication from Social Security Scotland before their review was good

Things people said could be better about their review were:

• Waiting times are too long
• People would like to be contacted by text or email for updates on their review

Most people said people should be given longer review periods. This means they would have reviews of their Adult Disability Payment award less often.

Indefinite awards

Less than 1 in 10 people who answered had an award without a review period (some people call this an indefinite award).

People who had an indefinite award said that this helped them to have:

• Better access to care
• Less money worries
• Less stress about applying for Adult Disability Payment in future

Some people said the letter they got about their indefinite award was confusing and could be better.

Some people said Social Security Scotland should give more indefinite awards, especially for people with permanent conditions or conditions that get worse over time.

Processing times

Of the people responding to the consultation who had got a decision about their Adult Disability Payment award:

• About one third took 3 months or less
• About one third took 3 to 6 months
• About one third took longer than 6 months

People said some people are more affected by long waiting times for their application:

• People who need other disability benefits, like a Blue Badge or an accessible car or scooter
• People struggling with money
• People with mental health conditions
• Single parents and carers

People said while they’re waiting they should be able to find out how their application is going:

• Email or text updates
• An online portal to check an application

Changes in people’s circumstances

Of the people who had a change of circumstances with Social Security Scotland:

• 2 in 5 people said they were treated with dignity, fairness and respect
• Less than 1 in 10 said they got regular updates

Most people said that the change of circumstances would be better if:

• Decisions are made more quickly
• People get better communication

Other people said that the change of circumstances would be better if:

• There was better guidance about what to include and how to submit it
• Benefit systems all worked together so people can get the support they need with less paperwork

Other considerations

Organisations working with disabled people said there needs to be better communication during the application and decision-making process.

They said there should be a way for people and their representatives to contact Social Security Scotland quickly to raise concerns.

Conclusion

People gave us lots of feedback about Adult Disability Payment and Social Security Scotland.

People told us what is good about Adult Disability Payment and what could be better.

The Chair of the review will use the information people have shared when she is giving recommendations in the final report of the Review.