This chapter covers the rules of entitlement to the lower rate of the mobility component of Child Disability Payment (CDP). The purpose of the mobility component is to help with the additional costs of an individual requiring assistance when moving around outdoors as a result of their disability.

To be entitled to the lower rate of the mobility component, an individual must be both:

• at least 5 years of age (CDP regs, reg. 12(1))
• although able to walk, be unable to move around outdoors without guidance or supervision from another person most of the time (CDP regs, reg. 12(2)).

The type of guidance or supervision that the individual needs to move around must be either:

• substantially in excess of what is normally required for someone who is the individual’s age but does not have a disability (CDP regs, reg. 12(3)(a))
• the kind of support which younger persons without a disability might need but which persons who are the same age as the individual (and who do not have a disability) would not need (CDP regs, reg. 12(3)(b)).

This does not apply once the individual reaches 16 years of age. This is because the needs of individuals aged 16 or more are not compared to those of people of the same or a younger age (CDP regs, reg. 12(4).

No account is to be taken of the ability of individuals to follow familiar routes without guidance or supervision (CDP regs, reg. 12(5)).

Individuals must also satisfy the backwards and forwards tests to be entitled to CDP. These tests are to distinguish short-term from long-term needs for assistance. An individual needs to satisfy both tests to be entitled to CDP.

The backwards test looks at how long an individual has met the criteria of entitlement (CDP regs, reg. 12(6)(a)). The backwards test is 13 weeks.

The forwards test looks at how long an individual is likely to continue to satisfy the criteria of entitlement (1 CDP regs, reg. 12(6)(b)). The forwards test is 26 weeks.