From 2013, PIP will replace DLA for people of working age (between 16 and 64 years of age).

The initial proposals for the PIP assessment criteria were published in May 2011 to provide an opportunity for disabled people and their organisations to comment and help to shape the development process. Between May and August the DWP says it met with around 60 disabled people and their organisations as well as receiving 173 written submissions from both organisations and individuals as part of an informal consultation. In addition, a testing exercise across the UK between May and September was carried out using the proposed assessment involving about 1000 volunteers across the UK.

Proposed PIP assessment changes

As a result of this feedback and engagement, among the key proposed PIP assessment changes are:

• to ensure that the assessment adequately takes account of where the presence of another person is needed, the criteria now refer to supervision from another person where this is required to enable an individual to carry out an activity safely (similar to the DLA approach);
• while PIP activity descriptors continue to be considered in light of whether they apply for the “majority of the time” (the majority of days), to ensure that the impact of a fluctuating conditiom is accurately captured, where two or more descriptors in an activity apply on less than 50% of days individually but reach this threshold when combined, the descriptor which applies for the greatest proportion of time will apply;

• to ensure a broader assessment of ability to make everyday decisions, the previous “Planning and buying food and drink activity” has been replaced with the new activity ”Making financial decisions” – one of DA’s suggestions which we’re pleased to see included;

• the previous “Communicating with others” activity has been split into two new activities: “Communicating” and “Engaging socially” with the former focusing on expressive and receptive communication and accessing written information while the latter assess ability to interact with others in a contextually and appropriate manner, understand body language and establish relationships;

Down load Disability Alliance's longer review of the new PIP changes via the link below (together with lots of useful other useful stuff!).  The debate and discussion about teh new PIP benefit if still far from over.

Disability Alliance Update Dec 2011

Due to the widespread protest about the impact that removing the component would have on the 78,000 disabledpeople living in statefunded residential care (and their families), in February the Government

announced it would conduct an internal review of the proposal.  However, concerns that the Government's review was taking place behind closed doors prompted leading disability charities Mencap and Leonard Cheshire Disability to ask DA President Lord Low to conduct a review to create an opportunity for an independent, public and comprehensive examination of the issue.

The Government’s u-turn on its mobility component reform came a few weeks after the publication of Lord Low’s Review which concluded that:

• the DLA mobility component and its successor under PIP should be retained by care home residents as its removal would lead to a loss of independence for disabled people;
• there is no evidence of a duplication of funding in relation to the mobility needs being met by local authorities and the mobility needs being met by DLA mobility; and
• there needs to be greater clarity of local authorities’ responsibilities for funding mobility needs and the role played by DLA.

In addition, Lord Low advocated that the Department of Health (and the Scottish and Welsh Governments) should:

• develop a peer led initiative encouraging and supporting disabled people living in residential care to directly manage their Personal Independence Payment mobility component;
• revise the Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide (CRAG) to make clear that the mobility component is to be completely disregardedby local authorities, both in means testing and in establishing how to meet assessed needs; and
• write to all local authorities drawing their attention to the revised CRAG, emphasising the requirement for local authorities to meet all assessed mobility needs.

Welcoming the findings of Lord Low’s Review and the Government’s u-turn, DA Director of Policy Neil Coyle said:

“Lord Low’s independent review of Government plans was published 3rd November. It appears to have already been influential as the Government has now announced a u-turn on cutting the £160 million funding 78,000 disabled care home residents. We are pleased the strong campaign by disabled people and organizations like ours hasbeen successful.

However, DWP has acknowledged that it must now fund this cut elsewhere. With over £1.3 billion to be lost a year from general DLA expenditure by 2015/16 a further £160 million represents 44,000 disabled people losing average DLA payments.  We remain concerned that the Government has failed to adequately impact assess broader DLA cuts. The rationale for DLA cuts has been exposed as false for care home residents and remains just as poor for DLA overall”.

The Low Review: Personal Mobility in State-Funded Residential Care is available via the link below.

The Low Review

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After being told to download a programme that handed over remote control of their computer so the caller could install "fixes", the PC users were told of the £185 charge for subscription to "the preventative service". But the "fixed" computers never had any problems, and the value of the service was dubious. In previous cases, the police have been unable to obtain refunds for victims, even though it is classed as fraud.

Those who believe they have been mis-sold a product or service online should report the matter to Trading Standards (via the link below) and if consumers believe they have been a victim of crime they should report it to the police.

tradingstandards.gov.uk