Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment: final report - easy read

Introduction

This report has been written by Edel Harris OBE as Chair of the Independent Review of Adult Disability Payment. It tells us what changes are needed to make Adult Disability Payment better.

Adult Disability Payment is extra money to help you if you have a disability or long-term health condition that affects your everyday life.

I asked many people who have a disability or long-term health condition how to make Adult Disability Payment better, and they shared their ideas with me. Organisations who support disabled people also helped with this.

The report uses their experiences to tell the Scottish Government how to make sure the social security system and Adult Disability Payment are fair and help people in need.

Lots of people think that Adult Disability Payment and Social Security Scotland work well.

They said that the staff are helpful and they felt supported when applying.

The Scottish Government wants its social security system to help people and respect their rights. It aims to reduce poverty and help people take part in society.

I used questions from the Charter Measurement Framework[i] to make my recommendations. This was to understand if Social Security Scotland are doing what they said they would when managing Adult Disability Payment.

The Charter Measurement Framework is a guide to test and understand if Social Security Scotland and the Scottish Government are doing what they said they would, and it helps them to keep doing things better.