Renfrewshire North & West SNP MSP Natalie Don has welcomed the start of Scotland’s new Adult Disability Payment which is now being extended to cover the whole of Scotland from Monday 29th August 2022.

This benefit is open to those aged between 16 and state pension age who are disabled, have a long-term health condition, or have a terminal illness. This is the twelfth benefit to be introduced by the Scottish Government, with seven of these benefits being brand new forms of support that are not available elsewhere in the UK.

Natalie Don MSP said:

“The Scottish Government’s approach to delivering disability benefits has been designed with people with lived experience of disability benefits and is taking a different approach to that of the UK Government. People will be treated with dignity and respect and will start from a position of trust. There will be no private sector assessors and applicants will be given greater choice to help them, including times and locations of meetings, with home visits available.

“We know that applying for disability benefits through the DWP has often been a stressful experience. I hope that this new system will make the process much more straightforward and will remove some of the degrading examinations which were carried out previously, such as asking a person to ‘touch their toes’.

“Adult Disability Payment is there to support people to live well and provide security at the most difficult of times. I would encourage those who think they could be eligible to check and apply.”

Adult Disability Payment will be administered through Social Security Scotland and will replace Personal Independence Payment, which is currently delivered by the Department for Work and Pensions. People already receiving Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance do not need to make an application for Adult Disability Payment. These existing awards will transfer automatically from the DWP to Social Security Scotland. Cases will transfer in stages starting from this summer and this process is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.