Final report of the Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment published
- Area of Work: Policy and Research
- Type: News Item
- Published: 31st July 2025
The report recommends changes and improvements to Adult Disability Payment including reforming the 50% and 20 metre rules.
The Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment (ADP) today (July 31 2025) published their final report. Chaired by Edel Harris OBE, the Independent Review was established to investigate how ADP has been operating, and make recommendations for how the payment should be delivered in the future.
ADP is a payment intended to help disabled people of working age in Scotland with the additional costs of disability, and is delivered by Social Security Scotland. It replaced the Department for Work and Pensions’ Personal Independence Payment (PIP), though the criteria for both payments are currently very similar. The ALLIANCE have engaged closely with the review, submitting a response to the pre-review consultation on mobility criteria, and then to the full review consultation.
The ALLIANCE, along with many other organisations, have repeatedly expressed our concerns about the 50% and 20 metre rules in particular. The 50% rule requires people to be affected by their condition more than 50% of the time, whilst the 20 metre rule was based on a person’s ability to walk that distance.
We consider these rules to be arbitrary and do not believe they adequately capture people’s capabilities or the support they would benefit from, and have urged changes that instead account for people’s worst days, pain and exhaustion. We welcome the inclusion of recommendations to change these rules in ways that align with our calls, and will publish a fuller response to the report as a whole shortly.
You can read the full version of the final report on the Scottish Government website. A shorter summary version is also available.
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