From 2013, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) will be replaced by Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for people of working  age (currently 16 - 64).

DLA should contribute to the extra costs faced by disabled people with care, supervision or mobility needs. PIP will still contribute to these extra costs, but the Government want to focus the benefit on people with the ‘greatest needs’.

PIP will have a different application form, assessment process and criteria to DLA. For most people, the application process will include a face-to-face assessment with a healthcare professional.

This change will happen for people between 16 and state pension age (currently 65). The Government has not yet made a decision about when children under 16 and people already over pension age could be reassessed for PIP.

The Government has confirmed that people will continue to receive PIP after they reach state pension age as long as they continue to meet the eligibility criteria.

Sense is campaigning with deafblind people and families to ensure that:

• The assessment identifies the needs of deafblind people, especially in relation to communication, mobility and access to information
• Written evidence from medical, social care and other specialist professionals is collected before any face-to-face assessment
• Deafblind people avoid having unnecessary face-to-face assessments where there is sufficient written evidence
• The face-to-face assessment is accessible to deafblind people
• Assessors have access to specific information and training on deafblindness

Successful campaigning on the Welfare Reform Act 2012

Sense campaigned to make changes to Welfare Reform Act 2012 which is the law that creates PIP. We campaigned as part of the Disability Benefits Consortium and with other sensory impairment organisations.

We successfully campaigned for these changes on the face of the Act:

• Keeping the qualifying period for PIP at three months (the Government had proposed changing it to six months)
• Reversing the decision to remove the mobility component from people living in state-funded residential care
• Independent reviews of how PIP is working at both two and four years after it starts

We also campaigned to get these commitments from the Government:

• To gather written evidence before deciding whether a face-to-face assessment or review is necessary
• To ensure individuals can take a family member, friend, advocate or other person of their choice to a face-to-face assessment
• To first move a small number of people onto PIP and evaluate it before larger numbers move over to PIP
• People will continue to receive PIP once they reach state pension age

We are continuing to campaign to make sure the Government sticks to these commitments.

Find out more details about the Personal Independence Payment.

Testing the assessment

As part of this work, a group of deafblind people and family members took part in the Government’s testing of the first draft of the assessment for PIP in summer 2011.

Assessors had a variable understanding of the impact of deafblindness and, for a number of the participants, there were difficulties around access to information and the right communication support.

Sense published a report on individuals’ experiences and recommendations which we are now actively following-up with Ministers and officials in the Department of Work and Pensions.

The report was covered by the media and also used as a key piece of evidence in the
Work and Pensions Select Committee’s inquiry into reform of DLA.

Let us know if you would like to get involved in our campaigning on changes to DLA.

Sense reports and consultation responses

Read the Sense report on the testing of the first draft PIP assessment criteria

Read our response to the consultation on the second draft of the PIP assessment criteria (April 2012)