Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment: consultation

Section 4 – Rules about who can get Adult Disability Payment

The rules which decide whether someone is entitled to Adult Disability Payment are called the eligibility criteria.

Adult Disability Payment is made up of two parts, called components: a daily living component and a mobility component.

This consultation does not ask any questions about the mobility part. The Scottish Government previously conducted a consultation on the mobility part and the Independent Review will consider those findings.

For the daily living part, a Social Security Scotland case manager looks at a person’s ability to complete ten different activities.

Each activity has a series of statements (called descriptors), with a score between zero and 12. A case manager in Social Security Scotland decides which statement applies to the person.

The “50 percent rule”

Which statement the case manager selects depends on several factors but the case manager must choose only one statement. This applies to people with both fluctuating and stable conditions and is sometimes known as the ‘50% rule.’

If only one statement applies more than 50% of the time, then the case manager will choose that statement.

If two or more statements apply more than 50% of the time a person carries out an activity, then the case manager will choose the statement that scores the highest number of points.

If no statement applies on more than 50% of the time, but two of the statements added together would amount to more than 50%, the case manager will choose either:

• the statement that applies for the higher or highest amount of time
• if both statements apply for the same amount of time, the statement that scores the highest number of points.

Carrying out activities reliably

Case managers must consider whether a person can reliably complete an activity.

Reliably means whether a person can carry out an activity:

• safely
• to an acceptable standard
• repeatedly
• within a reasonable time period.

Case managers also consider a person’s ability to carry out an activity using an aid or appliance that they:

• normally use
• could reasonably be expected to use.

The following questions ask about the rules for the daily living part of Adult Disability Payment, including the reliability criteria.

Question 6

Do you agree or disagree that the rules for the daily living part of Adult Disability Payment are easy to understand?

• Agree
• Disagree
• Don’t Know

Please give reasons for your answer, outlining which parts you think are easy or difficult to understand and why.

(a) How could the rules around the daily living part be made easier to understand?

Question 7

If there was an opportunity to change the rules for the daily living part of Adult Disability Payment, what changes would you make (if any)?

Please provide detail about:

• Why you think changes are necessary
• What specific changes to the rules you would suggest
• The financial and personal implications these changes would have

If you suggested changes:

(a) Who do you think might be better off?

(b) Who do you think might be worse off?

By ‘better off’ and ‘worse off’ we mean either from a financial, wellbeing or any other perspective you think is relevant.

Question 8

Do the current daily living activities adequately allow the impact of fluctuating conditions to be accounted for?

• Yes
• No
• Don’t Know

Please give reasons for your answer.

(a) Do you think that people with certain conditions might find it difficult to receive points for any one or more of the daily living activities?

• Yes
• No
• Don’t Know

Please give reasons for your answer.

Question 9

Are the rules around an activity needing to be completed safely, to an acceptable standard and within a reasonable time period easy to understand?

• Yes
• No
• Don’t Know

(a) If you said “no”, what would you change to make them easier to understand?