Letter from Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, Housing and Local Government to Pam Duncan-Glancy, Member of the Social Justice and Social Security Committee, 5 November 2021
Thank you for your letter of 19 October 2021 regarding Adult Disability Payment (ADP) and the 20-metre rule, and our helpful discussion of 20 October.
A great deal of consideration has been given to whether we should implement changes to the mobility criteria when ADP is first delivered. I am firm in my view that changing the eligibility criteria now would risk the safe and secure transition of clients moving from Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to ADP, something no responsible Government would do. As you will be aware, this approach is supported by the Scottish Commission on Social Security (SCoSS), who in their report on the draft regulations for ADP stated:
“The Commission is in no doubt that a stable, well-run system that gives people confidence in the continuity of their payments is absolutely critical. We are persuaded that changing eligibility criteria at this time would risk undermining the delivery of ADP, with extremely detrimental consequences for people who depend on it.”
Presenting the barriers to implementing changes at this stage as “staffing issues” is to significantly underestimate the magnitude of the broad range of challenges which must be navigated to deliver such a large-scale project. Central to successful delivery is our approach to case transfer, when case managers will undertake the most complex process Social Security Scotland will ever have delivered. To meet the planned timetable, substantial numbers of PIP clients will have their entitlement moved from DWP to Social Security Scotland every month. It will simply not be feasible for Social Security Scotland to undertake the full process of making a determination for these clients, at the same time as managing all the new applications for assistance, in the initial stages of delivery.
This would present risks to the safe delivery of ADP within the timescales set out, which I will not countenance. Importantly, the current approach safeguards against creating a system in which individuals paid by Social Security Scotland are subject to significantly different eligibility requirements from clients whose cases have not yet transferred to the Scottish system. As you know, PIP eligibility provides clients with automatic entitlement to various reserved benefits and premiums, usually referred to as ‘passporting’. Throughout the various consultation activity we have undertaken on disability assistance, we have consistently heard how people’s main concern is having to submit new applications to receive Scottish disability assistance or to maintain other support they are entitled to as a result of their current entitlement. Devolved disability assistance must therefore continue this ‘passporting’ to additional forms of assistance.
DWP have made clear that ‘passporting’ for ADP is subject to delivery of a “like for like” system. Whilst there is not a detailed definition of “like for like”, DWP have, for example, registered concerns about aspects of changes which one might consider to be relatively minor, such as, alterations to the “interpretations” section of the regulations. We have been able to reach agreement with the DWP that ADP will be treated as a qualifying benefit for reserved premiums and additional payments in the same way as PIP. While welcome, it is important to note this is an interim agreement and is based on the regulations as currently drafted. Therefore, while ‘passporting’ to reserved benefits for ADP clients has been assured in the immediate term, any significant change to the criteria in the ADP regulations could risk undermining this interim agreement and the vitally important immediate security for clients which it provides. Continued engagement with DWP is required to reach a longer term approach to passporting, considering the potential for increasing divergence between devolved and reserved disability benefits.
I am confident that clients will benefit from the Scottish Government’s significant improvements to disability benefits, many of which will address concerns around how the mobility criteria are currently applied. The independent review of ADP, one year after delivery has begun, will enable this and all other eligibility criteria to be considered in the round. There is significant value in enabling clients who have experienced applying for ADP to provide their input. To ensure the review is genuinely independent, I do not believe it is right for the Scottish Government to pre-empt what the recommendations should be by committing to reforms before it has begun.
I will also share this letter with the Social Justice and Social Security Committee.
Thank you again for getting in touch.
Yours sincerely,