Scots living in three more council areas are now able to apply for a new benefit ahead of its full launch in August.
Residents of Angus, North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire have been invited to register for the Scottish Government’s adult disability payment.
It is being introduced as pilot in the areas ahead of a nationwide opening on August 29 replacing the personal independence payment. The payment has already been introduced in Perth, Dundee and the Western Isles in March.
Further council areas will be brought in next month.
The benefit will provide support to people between the age of 16 and pension age who are disabled, have a long-term health condition or have a terminal illness.
Those already in receipt of the personal independence payment do not need to make another application for the new adult disability payment as this will transfer from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to Social Security Scotland.This process is expected to be completed by 2025.
READ MORE: Scottish disability benefits to start after Covid-19 delay
Minister for social security Ben Macpherson said: “We are taking a positive, responsible and compassionate approach to delivering disability benefits, centred around our principles of dignity, fairness and respect.
“Adult disability payment is the twelfth Scottish benefit to be introduced, and without doubt the most complex.
“People can apply for adult disability payment in the way that suits them best. As well as online and over the phone, local delivery staff can provide pre-application advice and encourage people to take up their entitlements. I encourage those who think they could be eligible to check and apply.
“We would urge people who think that they may need additional support in applying, as well as with re determinations and appeals, to consider using VoiceAbility, an independent advocacy service that we are funding.
“Our approach to delivering disability benefits has been designed with people with lived experience of disability benefits and we are taking a different approach to that of the UK Government.
“People will be treated with dignity and respect, and we will start from a position of trust. There will be no private sector assessors and clients will be given greater choice to help them, including times and locations of meetings, with home visits available.”
Lorraine Van Beuge, project manager at North Lanarkshire Disability Forum (NLDF), said: “NLDF are delighted to be involved in the launch of the adult disability payment in North Lanarkshire, we encouraged our members to participate in the consultations last year and we are heartened to see some of the issues raised have been considered and implemented. We welcome the positive changes this devolved benefit may bring our members.”
How to apply?
You can apply online or by phone and paper by phoning 0800 182 2222.
The application is split into two parts, which need to be completed withing eight weeks of each other.
Find out more here.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here