1. Personal Independence Payment Overview and update Mike Tipple Welfare Advice Officer South Gloucestershire Council

2. Conditions of entitlement Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has replaced Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for new claims from people aged 16 to 64 on 8 April 2013 or who turn(ed) 16 after that date. Two components: Daily Living & Mobility. Two rates for each component: Standard & Enhanced.

3. Assessment criteria Individuals are assessed on their ability to complete a number of key everyday activities. There are 10 daily living activities and 2 mobility activities. For each component, individuals will get the standard rate if they score a total of 8 to 11 points, or the enhanced rate if their scores add up to 12 points or more.

4. Assessment Activities Daily Living (10 activities): preparing food 0-8 taking nutrition 0-10 managing therapy or monitoring a health condition 0-8 washing and bathing 0-8 managing toilet needs or incontinence 0-8 dressing and undressing 0-8

5. Assessment Activities communicating verbally 0-12 reading and understanding signs, symbols and words 0-8 engaging with other people face to face 0-8 making budgeting decisions 0-6 Mobility (2 activities): planning and following journeys 0-12 moving around 0-12

6. Reassessing existing DLA claimants PIP replaced DLA for people who were aged between 16 and 64 on 8 April 2013. Initially, this was for new claimants only. DWP will gradually start to reassess existing DLA claimants for PIP. Here in South Gloucestershire we have not yet started the reassessment process however further decisions on extending reassessment will be taken and communicated to the rest of the country in due course.

7. Supporting young people DLA remains for children under 16. Young people will not be invited to claim PIP instead of their DLA until they are 16 years of age. Young people who get DLA under the special rules for terminal illness will not be asked to claim PIP. DWP will write to the parent or guardian of young people before they turn 16 to tell them what they need to do next.

8. How to make a claim To start a claim for PIP, the claimant telephones DWP on 0800 917 2222 or textphone 0800 917 7777 – visit gov.uk/pip for more information about how to claim. It is important to have as much information to hand before telephoning DWP. The claimant will be sent a form for them to explain how their condition affects their daily life.

9. Completing the ‘How your disability affects you’ form When a claim to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has been made, DWP will post a form called ’How your disability affects you’ to the claimant The form will be personalised to the claimant and can only be used for them. The form includes questions about the claimant’s ability to carry out key everyday activities.

10. Assessment process and providers The PIP assessment will be delivered by assessment providers working in partnership with DWP. Most people may be asked to go to a ‘face-to- face consultation’ with a health professional. The health professional will complete the assessment and will send a report back to the DWP. The health professional will not make a decision on entitlement to PIP.

11. Update Between 8th April 2013 and 31st December 2014 over 523,000 new claims (normal rules) have been referred to the assessment providers, nearly 388,000 having been returned (74%). The number of referrals to the assessment providers has remained broadly constant at around 30,000 per month and the number of returns from the assessment providers has increased each month, with over 52,000 being returned per month since October 2014.

12. Registrations, Clearances and Awards Of the total new claims (normal rules) clearances between April 2013 and December 2014; nearly 216,000 (49%) were awarded PIP; around 64,000 (14%) were disallowed pre- referral to the assessment providers 143,000 (32%) were disallowed post-referral to the assessment providers and; just over 19,000 (4%) of claims were withdrawn by the claimant.

13. Clearances The number of new claims (normal rules) outstanding with the assessment providers was around 98,000 as at 25th January 2015. The number of new claims (normal rules) outstanding with DWP for a decision was just over 12,000 as at 25th January 2015. As at 25th January 2015, 20% of referrals to the assessment providers were still outstanding (with 9% outstanding over 16 weeks).

14. Special Rules Between 8th April 2013 and 31st December 2014, just over 27,000 new claims (special rules) had been registered and 32,000 new claims (special rules) had been cleared. Of the total clearance between April 2013 and December 2014, the majority (96%) were awarded PIP, with only a small number of claims either being withdrawn by the claimant or disallowed pre- or post-referral to the assessment providers.