PIPPersonal Independence Payment

&The abolition of DLA

PIPO Original announcement – George

Osborne - June 2010 ‘emergency’ budget:

O ‘reform’ DLAO 20% cut in budgetO Simplify applicationO Introduce medical assessment for all

claimantsO End entitlement to DLA mobility

component in Residential Care (since scrapped)

PIPO Welfare Reform Bill:O Replace DLA with ‘Personal Independence

Payment’ from March 2013O Two Components:

O Mobility ComponentO Daily Living Component

O Two rates of each Component – ‘standard’ and ‘enhanced’O Standard where ‘limited’ by medical conditionO Enhanced where ‘severely limited’

O Qualifying period of 6 monthsO Face-to-face assessment for many

claimants

PIPO Draft assessment criteriaO Briefing notes promise:

It will remain a:O non-means testedO non-contributoryO non-taxableO cash benefitO payable to people in and out of work.

O But will be delivered in a “fairer, more consistent and sustainable manner.”

PIPO (all) assessments will include advice

provided by a trained independent assessor who will:

O collect evidence from a wide range of sources.

O In many cases this will involve a face-to-face consultation

O but in some cases paper-based assessment may be more suitable

“The key is a review process that is applied sensitively and appropriately, which disabled people and their representatives have helped us to design to get it right…”DWP retain decision making responsibilities

PIPO Will set up ‘multiple channels’ through

which disabled people will be able to access PIP information, make claims and report changes in their circumstances

O Will establish online claim facilities in the future in addition to a paper claim form.

O “The DLA claim form is too long and complicated. We will actively work with disabled people, their organisations and carers to design an improved form that is understandable and as straightforward as possible”

PIPO ‘number of areas of specific activity that

we will be taking forward to support the introduction and delivery of Personal Independence Payment, including:O Design and development of a new IT

systemO Production of new claimant information

materialsO Development of contract specification ‘to

support the procurement exercise to select the service provider that will deliver the objective assessment’

PIPO Required period condition:

O Must have had difficulties for six months and be likely to have them for six

O required period condition to be reapplied where someone’s condition deteriorates

O “conditions that can be expected to have periods of remission… will not have to fulfil the qualifying period again if they make a further claim within a year of the date they were last entitled”

O Qualifying period change predicted to be particularly problematic for people going through treatment for cancer

PIP

O Award durationO 70% of DLA awards indefiniteO PIP will be ‘a dynamic benefit which can respond to

changes in individual needs and circumstances’O PIP awards – “for a fixed term, except in

exceptional circumstances”O length of award will be “based on the individual’s

needs and the likelihood of their health condition or impairment changing” (recommendation at assessment)

O In exceptional circumstances will make ongoing awards.

O ‘tailored approach’ to reviewsO may involve face-to-face assessment with ‘trained

independent assessor’,O in some cases could be a paper-based assessment, ‘if

that would be more appropriate’

PIPDaily Living componentO Planning and buying food and drink;O Preparing and cooking food;O Taking nutrition;O Managing medication and monitoring health

conditions;O Managing prescribed therapies other than medication;O Washing, bathing and grooming;O Managing toilet needs or incontinence;O Dressing and undressing; andO Communicating with others.

Mobility ComponentO Planning and following a journey; andO Moving around.

PIPTechnical note accompanying PIP criteria suggests very limited awareness of DLA criteria:O we have sought to incorporate a wider

variety of everyday activities than those covered by the current Disability Living Allowance criteria… e.g.O “the inclusion of communication will enable

the assessment to take better account of the impact of impairments which impact on sight, hearing, speech and comprehension…”

PIPScoring:

O First descriptor 0 points;O Points likely to broadly increase as you

move down the listO In some cases, descriptors may receive the

same points;O scores may not follow a uniform pattern for

each activity but ‘will reflect the individual characteristics and priority of each activity’

PIPPriority:

Low scoring:O Managing medication and monitoring health conditionsO Managing prescribed therapies other than medication

Medium scoring:O Planning and buying food and drinkO Preparing and cooking foodO Taking nutritionO Washing, bathing and groomingO Managing toilet needs and incontinenceO Dressing and undressing

High scoring: O Communicating with othersO Planning and following a journeyO Getting around

PIPThe kind / amount of help:Wipes out Mallinson and replaces it with:‘Assistance’ – i.e. physical help; or‘Prompting’Needs to be either:O Continual – “where the person providing the

support must help the individual for the entire duration of the activity’ or

O Intermittent ‘where the person providing the support must help the individual for over half the time that the activity takes to complete’

Big impact for mental health

PIPO Many ‘DLA difficulties’ no longer count at allO Much of supervisory criteria is lostO Distinguishes between physical and verbal

helpO Much more defined activities – no longer

enough to be ‘in connection with’O Help must be needed throughout an activity

or for more than half the time to countO Rigid defining of what words mean:

O exclude many from qualificationO make it more complexO Leave little scope for interpretation/ widening

qualification through Caselaw.

PIP – wider implications

Potential double whammy:

O loss of or reduction of disability benefit may also mean:

O loss of Carer’s Allowance and premium/addition

O loss of additional amounts in means tested benefits / tax credits/ HB for the person with disabilities

Could more than double the effect for the poorest claimants

O Lost income may affect funding of personalised budgets, supported living schemes, ILF, income from home care charges etc

O Much higher impact in areas of high, long-term limiting illness and disability.