A Consultation on Improving Disability Assistance in Scotland

Between March and May 2019, the Scottish Government asked people for their views on whether the way that we were planning to pay Disability Assistance would meet the needs of the children and adults it was intended to help. We sought the views of people with lived experience of social security and of applying for disability benefits. We asked 64 questions in the consultation which was in four parts covering: Disability Assistance in Scotland; Disability Assistance for Children and Young People; Disability Assistance for Working Age People; Disability Assistance for Older People.

We received 262 replies to the consultation: 74 responses came from organisations, and 188 came from individuals. Most people agreed with the way the Scottish Government said Disability Assistance would work in Scotland. Many people told us about the same issues when sharing their views about disability assistance:

• There should only be one Disability Assistance for all ages and not three different types.
• They agreed that the Scottish Government must make sure people in Scotland who need Disability Assistance will get it.  
• Assessments can be upsetting and stressful to attend.
• They agreed that it is important that we pay the right benefit at the right time.
• They agreed that training for the people who will be making decisions about Disability Assistance was very important. 

Almost everyone who replied liked the idea of having different ways of applying for Disability Assistance (online/phone/paper). Most people thought that we should use the same rules as the Department for Work and Pensions to decide who (living in Scotland) could apply for benefits. Many people agreed that Social Security Scotland should make decisions based on each person's situation, looking at how a disability or health condition affects that person’s daily life. Almost everyone thought we should increase the age limit to age 18 for Disability Assistance for Children and Young People. Many people felt that using a points-based system to decide if someone can get a benefit does not work for people with conditions that change a lot. 

On 28 October 2019 the Scottish Government published an analysis of responses to the consultation and the report is available here: 

http://www.gov.scot/ISBN/9781839602689. The analysis helped inform the development of Disability Assistance, including Child Disability Payment and Adult Disability Payment. 

The Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022 can be found here: 

The Disability Assistance for Working Age People (Scotland) Regulations 2022 (legislation.gov.uk).

The Disability Assistance for Children and Young People (Scotland) Regulations 2021 can be found here:

The Disability Assistance for Children and Young People (Scotland) Regulations 2021 (legislation.gov.uk)