Disability assistance in Scotland: consultation - easy read

Introduction

The Scottish Government has listened to people who have experience of getting disability benefits. They want to make sure that social security in Scotland meets the needs of people who will receive it.

The Scottish Government held a consultation on social security in 2016. The most important things people said the Government should do for them were to:

• Treat everyone as an individual
• Make the process less stressful
• Give people choices about how they apply (online, phone, paper)
• Treat people with dignity and respect
• Let people work with advocacy and advice services when talking to Social Security Scotland
• Think about a wide range of disabilities and conditions when designing services and benefit rules

The Scottish Government has also set up the Experience Panels. These are people who have personal experience of disability benefits who are asked to give their views about how the Scottish Government says they will introduce the three new benefits.

The Scottish Government will launch new benefits that will replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Attendance Allowance (AA).

The Scottish Government wants to deliver Disability Assistance safely and securely.

The Scottish Government has listened to people who have said that the most important thing is that people continue to get the right amount of money at the right time when their benefit transfers.