Report

Delivering dignity?

This report from UK think tank the Resolution Foundation examines early lessons from the introduction of Adult Disability Payment in Scotland.

When the Scottish Government introduced the Adult Disability Payment (ADP) in 2022 to replace Personal Independence Payment (PIP), it set out to do things differently. Although the two benefits have the same eligibility criteria and are paid at the same rates, Social Security Scotland made it clear that their aim was to treat claimants with “dignity, fairness and respect” throughout the process of claiming ADP.

Claim and award rates were significantly higher for ADP than for PIP in the earliest days of the new benefit, but the same trend was observed in the first year of PIP’s introduction. A ‘bedding-in’ period looks to be the norm. Three years on, the latest data does not suggest that ADP is a ‘soft touch’. ADP applications by new claimants have increased no faster than PIP applications in England and Wales since its introduction; the award rate for new ADP applications is now lower than new claims for PIP in England and Wales; and fewer ADP awards are made at the more-generous ‘enhanced’ rates than is the case for PIP.

That is not to say there are no problems with ADP. Claimants complain about long wait times and a complex application form; the proportion of ADP claimants who request a ‘redetermination’ is on the rise; and the Scottish Fiscal Commission has flagged the policy of ‘light-touch’ ADP reviews as a fiscal risk for the future. But overall, the introduction of ADP shows that improving the claimant experience is not at odds with keeping caseloads and costs under control (although there is little to suggest that it will reduce costs over time, as some have claimed) – all lessons the Timms Review may want to note.