Developing our Adult Disability Payment

Launched across Scotland in 2022, Adult Disability Payment provides financial support for people with a disability or long-term health condition that affects their everyday life.

When designing the new disability benefit, we made three key commitments based on what people with experience of disability benefits told us.

Assessments replaced by consultations

People told us the term ‘assessment’ as part of the application process felt more like a test, so we use the word ‘consultation’. We also committed to changing the entire process as people told us they felt their experience of applying for Personal Independence Payment was ‘inhumane’,

We also made the decision that all of our consultations will take place with one of our in-house health and social care professionals and not a third-party organisation. If people need a consultation as part of their Adult Disability Payment application, they will take place over the phone, via video call, in a convenient community venue or in an applicant’s home.

Images to gather information

People told us that they were not always sure how much detail to include about their disability. Therefore, we updated the Adult Disability Payment application form to include images as well as text to help them describe their condition.

We’ll collect supporting information on behalf of clients

We use supporting information for Adult Disability Payment applications to help understand how a condition affects someone and what support they might need. One example of the ways that we are doing things differently is that we collect supporting information on behalf of people if they do not have the required documents to hand.

We are also working to help people understand what helpful supporting information for disability payments looks like. Our research has found some people may have it to hand but do not realise it. This might be because they don’t know what kinds of documents that are useful to us, such as social care assessments, prescription lists or appointment letters.

Client feedback is a vital method to aid the continuous review our processes and ensure that people in Scotland continue to receive a positive experience of social security.

Find out more about Adult Disability Payment including how to apply at our website: mygov.scot/adult-disability-payment.