So what exactly is the new PIP?

Let us have a look at what we can expect to see as welfare reform takes place





Here we have a look at new Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and make some comparisons with the current Disability Living Allowance


Of late there's been a lot of controversy surrounding the new Personal Independence Payment which is currently being put through the House of Lords as part of government's welfare reforms. Government intends it to replace the current Disability Living Allowance which was introduced by the Conservative government back in 1992.


Disability campaigners this week launched a massive social media campaign aimed at drawing attention to what they see as potential unfairness when (and if) the new Personal Independent Payment becomes law.


It's fair to say that - as with much of government's reform - there's still a distinct lack of clarity over exactly how the new Personal Independence Payment will work. However, on Mylegal we've had a look at the 2nd set of Government's draft regulations (prepared in November 2011) and from these you can get a good indicator as to how the new payment will operate.


Let's take a look at the key differences between the current Disability Living Allowance and the new Personal Independence Payment then....


The current Disability Living Allowance





There's no doubt about it, it's a long old form. It's changed a bit over the years, at one time coming in two different sections with up to 39 pages to complete, it's been simplified a bit since then, but on the whole remains much the same as it always has been. Back in 2009 when David Cameron was speaking about autism, he himself compared filling in disability forms as a process which was more complicated than filling in a mortgage application form.


How does it work?


It's divided into two component parts; - mobility and personal care. The mobility component is paid according to qualifying conditions at a lower and higher rate, the personal care component is paid at lower, middle and higher rates. Generally speaking it is payable to those under the age of 65 and it doesn't matter whether you are in work or not. It is a non - means tested benefit and paid to people who have a severe physical and or mental disability. So people can claim it regardless of other income or savings they have; - it's paid in recognition of the living with the extra costs associated with living with many forms of disability, and it's non-taxable.


These are the current qualifying conditions...


Care component

The care component is payable at one of three rates (highest, middle or lowest) for those who need help with personal care.

Lowest rate

For people who need attention with bodily functions, for example eating, washing, dressing and using the toilet for a significant portion of the day

Or unable to prepare a cooked main meal if over age 16.

Middle rate

For people who need:

frequent attention with bodily functions throughout the day, or
continual supervision throughout the day to avoid substantial danger to themselves or others, or
prolonged and repeated attention at night in connection with bodily functions, or
someone to be awake during the night for a prolonged period or at frequent intervals to avoid substantial danger to themselves or others.

Highest rate

For people who satisfy the middle rate criteria for both day and night.

Mobility component


The mobility component is paid at two rates – lower and higher.

Lower rate

For people who are able to walk but need someone with them to provide guidance and supervision for most of the time when they are outdoors on unfamiliar routes.

Higher rate

For people who are unable to or virtually unable to walk.

Special rules

Special rules apply to people who are not expected to live longer than six months due to a terminal illness. If a person qualifies for benefit under the special rules provision, they will qualify for personal care automatically even if no help is needed. They do not need to satisfy the three month qualifying period or six month prospective test.

Children

Children under 16 may get DLA. The care component can be paid from birth but the mobility component can only be paid from the age of three. In order to qualify for benefit the child’s needs must be substantially more than a non-disabled child of the same age.


The new Personal Independence Payment





You have to bear in mind the new Personal Independence Payment is not yet law, it is only proposed and therefore the regulations are only in draft form. The draft assessment regulations are annotated to reflect the following " Note: This is a second draft of regulations intended to highlight the government’s current thinking. They will be subject to further development and consultation. "


However, the draft assessment regulations do provide a very clear indication of which way the Personal Independence Payment is likely to work. The key changes from Disability Living Allowance are these:


(1) The assessment is points based according to the draft schedule; - not dissimilar to how Employment & Support Allowance is currently assessed in the controversial Work Capability Assessment.


(2) The new assessment for PIP looks at two newly defined components determined by 'daily living activities' and 'mobility activities'.


(3) In each component there are activity descriptors in the draft schedule for which points are awarded on a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 15 points (with the maximum only in some descriptors). Combinations of descriptors can be applied.


(4) In each component there will no longer be a lower rate; - only a 'standard' and 'enhanced' rate.


(5) The draft regulations imply a 6 month qualifying period with assessment and an unclear indication over whether re- assessment is going to be conducted at six month intervals.


(6) Further unclear indication appears in the application of a condition that the claimant has to have a problem with a descriptor for at least 50% of the qualifying period (taken to mean six months) or combinations of descriptors making up 50% of the qualifying period where the 50% condition is not met in any one particular descriptor; - (it is likely to be a very complicated formula for certain types of disability such as ME, CFS, and so forth)



Notes..


The key changes appear to be those I have outlined above. As far as the impact of these is concerned from looking at the scoring table I suspect (because it uses mainly multiples of 2 - 4 and 8 points in certain descriptors) that in order to qualify for the standard rate you will need to score at least 8 points and to qualify for the enhanced rate you will need to score at least 15 points. There are all manner of potential combination scores but to give you an example of just some of them, have a look at the following....


An example of daily living scoring is as follows:


In descriptor set (1) (Preparing food and drink)

(a) Can prepare and cook a simple meal unaided = 0 points

(g) Cannot prepare and cook food and drink at all = 8 points

The maximum score you can get in any of the descriptors is in descriptor set (7) (communicating) with the following:


g. Cannot communicate at all = 12 points


An example of mobility activity scoring is as follows:


In descriptor set (1) (Planning and following a journey)

The minimum you score is as follows:

a. Can plan and follow a journey unaided = 0 points

whereas the maximum is:

e. Needs either –

(i) supervision, prompting or a support dog to follow a journey to a familiar destination;

or

(ii) a journey to a familiar destination to have been planned entirely by another person.

For which you would be awarded 15 points.


As a welfare benefit specialist of many years experience I find it astonishing that government claims to be 'simplifying' the system; - this strikes me as an absolute recipe for confusion. How many hours claimants, decision-makers and tribunals will spend pouring over how many days a person has a problem in any one descriptor or deciding which combinations apply remains to be seen;- especially as alongside these welfare reforms, government is trying to withdraw all avenues of state funded welfare benefit help!

I'll post more on why people will almost certainly need proper help soon!

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Some useful Reference sources for PIP


Explanatory notes to draft legislation [November 2011)
www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-second-draft-assessment-criteria-note.pdf

Draft Personal Independence Payment Regulations
www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-second-draft-assessment-regulations.pdf

The Future of PIP – A Social Model Based appoach
www.scope.org.uk/sites/default/files/The%20Future%20of%20PIP%20-%20A%20Social%20Model%20Based%20Approach.pdf

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Here's some more information on the reforms in general, it will help you work out where the DLA/PIP reforms fit in...


Financial savings


Budget and CSR changes to result in savings of £18 billion a year by 2014-15, of which:

• £5.8 billion due to switch to CPI indexation

• £3.6 billion from Child Benefit freeze and clawback from higher rate taxpayers

• £2.6 billion from tax credit changes

• £1.9 billion from Housing Benefit reforms

• £1.2 billion from DLA reform

• £1.2 billion from time-limiting contributory ESA

None of the changes listed in the previous section have begun to kick in in earnest yet. When they do, there will be significant expenditure savings. By 2014-15, the measures announced in the Budget and CSR are expected to yield savings of £18 billion a year. As the list above shows, the switch to CPI indexation of benefits results in the greatest saving – almost a third of the £18 billion total. This measure – which compared to other changes has received relatively little attention – is in the long term potentially the most significant change of all.


Timetable for the proposed changes


Here's a House of Commons timetable which shows how some stages of the reforms are intended to be implemented, DLA/PIP are not included as the timetable is mainly related to the new Universal Credit. It is important to remember how DLA and PIP, although separate from the new credit are related; - an entitlement of DLA/PIP will affect the amount of credit a claimant receives according to how much they are paid.





DLA reform (which is in effect the implementation of Personal Independence Payment) is due to be introduced in 2013, government hopes to makes savings of £1.2 billion a year from 2014/2015 as part of its £18 billion a year savings target. It is important to remember how DLA and PIP are not due to be part of the new Universal Credit (which is what the timetable principally refers to).

www.w4mp.org/html/library/guides/1103_welfare_reforms.asp