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The ALLIANCE responds to the ADP Mobility Criteria consultation

  • Area of Work: The ALLIANCE
  • Type: News Item
  • Published: 26th April 2023
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Clearer and less restrictive criteria, including removing the 20 metre and 50% rules, are key to human rights based social security system.

The Scottish Government recently consulted on the current mobility component of the Adult Disability Payment (ADP), with the aim of hearing about current experiences and possible improvements. The responses to this consultation will inform the independent review of ADP that is expected to take place later in 2023.

In our response we:

  • Welcome existing changes to the system including:
    • Greater acceptance of supporting information;
    • Limited use of consultations;
    • Requirement to disclose any informal observations made during consultations and to allow a response to those;
    • Removal of behavioural observations and “Mental State Examination” from the process.
  • Note that the current presentation of some aspects of the mobility criteria may be confusing to people, or fail to meaningfully capture the impacts of their condition;
  • Call for the removal of the 20 metre and 50% rules, which are both overly strict and arbitrary, replacing them with less rigid, more meaningful means of describing mobility;
  • Call for improved understanding and accommodation of issues such as exhaustion, pain, incontinence and anxiety within the criteria;
  • Reiterate long-standing calls for a human rights based social security system, with specific reference to the principles laid out by the Scottish Campaign on Rights to Social Security this link will take you away from The Alliance website (SCoRSS);
  • Emphasise the importance of joint working between the Scottish and UK Governments to ensure that the Scottish Parliament has the flexibility to make changes to devolved payments;
  • Affirm the importance of using existing revenue raising powers in the most equitable way to fund social security as an essential public service.

You can read the full ALLIANCE response here or via the resource links below.

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Resources:

Adult Disability Payment Mobility Component Consultation - ALLIANCE Response (PDF)
Download PDF Document (319 KB)
Adult Disability Payment Mobility Component Consultation - ALLIANCE Response (Word)
Download Word Document (323 KB)
Download all document resources

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