ecdp PIP refernce

group: meeting notes

Tuesday 24 May 2011
ecdp PIP refernce group: meeting notes

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Disability Living Allowance
DLA (Disability Living Allowance) is a benefit is paid to
children (under 16) and working age disabled people (under
65).

There are two different parts, or components, to DLA; one for

care and one for mobility.

Both of these are paid at different rates depending on how

your disability affects you and you may be entitled to one part
or both.

You would be entitled to the care component if you need

some level of support with personal care; for example, when
washing, dressing, communicating, or eating.

You would be entitled to the mobility component if you have

‘difficulties walking’, due to a physical or sensory impairment
or because of a mental health condition or learning disability.

To claim DLA you must be assessed as having these needs

for three months and expect to need this help or have these
difficulties for at least another six months.

DLA is a tax free benefit and you can receive it if you are in
work or if you are unemployed.

ecdp PIP refernce group: meeting notes

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The Welfare Reform Bill
In February this year, the Welfare Reform Bill was introduced
by the coalition Government.
According to the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions)
the Bill will deliver the commitment to make the benefits and
tax credits systems fairer and simpler by:

 creating the right incentives to get more people into work

by ensuring work always pays
 protecting the most vulnerable in our society
 delivering fairness to those claiming benefit and to the
taxpayer.
Part of the Welfare Reform Bill looked at updating DLA.

ecdp PIP refernce group: meeting notes

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Personal Independence Payment
After consultation, it has been decided that DLA will be
replaced with PIP (Personal Independence Payment) for
working age adults (16 to 65).

Like DLA, PIP will have two components. These are the daily
living component and the mobility component.

Like DLA, these components are paid at different rates

depending on your needs. There are just two rates; standard
or enhanced.

To claim PIP you must be assessed as having these needs

for six months and expect to need this help for at least
another six months.

ecdp PIP refernce group: meeting notes

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ecdp PIP reference group
Two weeks ago, the government published a number of
documents, called Policy Briefing Notes, which talk about how
PIP is going to be introduced, who will be entitled to it and
how people will claim it.

We have formed the PIP reference group to draw together the

expertise and lived experience of our members.

We will look at the briefing notes and discuss the plans for
implementing PIP and how it will work for people in practice,
once it is in place.

Our aim is to make constructive recommendations about how

this system can work best for the people it is designed to
support.

Rather than follow the order of the briefing papers, we are

going to look at the process as disabled people will
experience it.

Throughout the process there are three key areas that we will
consider; transparency, the meaningful involvement of
disabled people and communications.

The information you give us today will feed into ecdp’s

response to the policy briefing documents, which need to be
received by DWP on 6 June.

Future meetings will have a slightly different focus, therefore,

but will
ecdp still look
PIP refernce atmeeting
group: how notes
PIP will be able to work best for those
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who use it

ecdp PIP refernce group: meeting notes

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1. Finding out about DLA/PIP
 How did you find out about DLA?

 Did you speak to any individuals or organisations to get

information about DLA?

 What was the information you received like?

Was it accessible to you?

If not, how did you find accessible information?

 How did finding out about DLA compare to finding

information about any other benefits or support you
receive?

Is there anything we can learn from this?

 In setting up this new system, how should DWP ensure it is

easy to find out about PIP and how to apply?

Where should this information be available?

ecdp PIP refernce group: meeting notes

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2. Qualifying Period
‘PIP will be available only to those with a long term health
condition or impairment, rather than short term conditions
where other financial and in-kind support mechanisms exist.’

‘The combined effect if the six month qualifying period and the
six month prospective test will align our definition of long-term
disability with that generally used for the Equality Act.’

 In the short-term, was it the case for you that other support
was in place?

 Did you face any problems while waiting to qualify for DLA?

 What support did you receive from other agencies while

you were waiting?

Was this easy to obtain?

 If it is going to be the case that an impairment/condition is

unlikely, or definitely not going to change, should people
have to wait six months to qualify?

How would this have worked in your situation?

ecdp PIP refernce group: meeting notes

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3. Application
‘We want to ensure that Personal Independence Payment will
be simple for the claimant and efficient for the Department to
administer.’

‘We envisage this will reduce the amount of information we

need to gather through the claim form.’

 How could the system be made to ensure both targets – of

simplicity and efficiency – are met?

 What aspects of the current application system are simple

and efficient?

Which are not?

 In the policy briefing notes, they state that the application

form is too long and complicated – is this your experience?

Are there any parts of the form that you feel are
unnecessary?

Which parts of the form do you feel are important? (for

example, those which give a good understanding of your
experience of your impairment.)

 Is the form itself accessible to you, how could it be made

more so?
ecdp PIP refernce group: meeting notes

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4. Assessment
‘The new assessment will include advice provided by a
trained assessor who will collect evidence from a wide range
of sources… In many cases this will involve a face-to face
consultation… but in some cases a paper based consultation
may be more suitable.’

‘Key to the reform of DLA is that the entitlement to PIP should

be on the basis of an individual based approach rather than
labelling people according to their disability…’

 Aside from the information you provide on the claim form,

what other forms of assessment have you had? (for
example, face-to-face consultations, medical or physical
examinations)

 Do you feel these were useful in giving an understanding of

how your impairment affects you on a day-to-day basis?

 The quote above states that the assessors will be trained –

what training do you feel they should have?

Should they have knowledge about particular impairments?

The Decision Makers will have ‘access to disability specific

experts’ – do you think this is important?

 The trained assessor will draw evidence from a wide range

ecdp PIP refernce group: meeting notes

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 of sources – which sources do you think it would be useful
to include?

Did DWP draw on the expertise of the other

professionals/experts involved in your life?

If so, did you feel this was useful?

 How can an individual assessment be ensured?

 Is it ever useful for a specific impairment or diagnosis to

lead to automatic entitlement?

 What role can self assessment play?

ecdp PIP refernce group: meeting notes

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5. Change of circumstances

‘Individuals are not clear on how and when they should report
changes in their circumstances.’

 Do you know when to report changes to DWP?

Is it easy to do so?

 If your need for DLA has lessened, is it straightforward to

have it increased when you need it again?

 If your support needs have become greater, how do you go

about addressing this?

 70% claimants have indefinite awards – is this appropriate

in your case?

‘People with conditions that can be expected to have periods

of remission where continued payment of PIP would be
inappropriate, will not have to fulfil the qualifying period again
of they make a further claim within a year.’

 How would this affect someone whose impairment is likely

to change, or have periods of remission?

ecdp PIP refernce group: meeting notes

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6. Review
‘We will [make] awards for a fixed term, except in exceptional
circumstances. The length of the award will be based on the
individual’s needs and the likelihood of their health condition
or impairment changing.’

 If we know that it is going to be exceptional for DWP to

award indefinite receipt of PIP, how should the review work
in practice?

 If over time the condition improves, or perhaps in the longer

term, services become more accessible, then the cost of
someone’s disability could be less. How could this be
monitored?

ecdp PIP refernce group: meeting notes

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7. Appeals
“Claimants who disagree with decisions will have the same
formal disputes process as other social security benefit.”

 What is you experience of appeals procedures?

 Was it easy to find out how to appeal, if relevant?

 How do you think the number of appeals could be reduced?

(for example, was there something missing from your
original assessment, which changed the outcome during
appeal?)

ecdp PIP refernce group: meeting notes

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