Adult Disability Payment Review: consultation
Section 7 - Decision-making
The following questions ask about the consultations and decision-making process for Adult Disability Payment as set out in Section 7 of the Consultation Paper.
About decision-making and consultations
The Scottish Government has provided guidance for both people applying for and receiving Adult Disability Payment about how decisions are made.
Social Security Scotland also has guidance for case managers about how they should consider the rules for the daily living activities. This includes more fairly and consistently considering environmental, cultural, and social factors.
A consultation is an appointment with a Social Security Scotland practitioner where they will ask a person questions to help make a decision on their Adult Disability Payment application.
Following the consultation, the practitioner will write a report which will be sent to the case manager who decides about whether the person will get Adult Disability Payment.
Consultations may take place:
- by phone
- by video call
- at a local public venue
- in the person’s home.
The consultation is not a diagnosis or medical examination of a person’s condition. It will only cover the areas of the application that Social Security Scotland needs more information about.
A person is only invited to take part in a consultation when there is no other practical way to understand their needs. Practitioners fully discuss the impact of completing the activity, starting from a position of trust that what people tell them is accurate. They have also removed functional assessments, including physical examinations, as part of the application and decision-making process.
Social Security Scotland practitioners only make informal observations whilst a consultation is taking place. The person, and any person accompanying them, must be given the opportunity to respond to the observations.