Erica Young on changes to benefits for older people who have care needs because of a disability or long-term health condition in Scotland

Reaching pension age is a time of bewildering transition. Many of us are moving on from working life and regular routines as we start a new chapter.  

For many, social security provides vital income that helps manage the changing needs that comes with this change, while maintaining a quality of life and wellbeing.  

This month, Pension Age Disability Payment (PADP) is replacing Attendance Allowance in Scotland. That means that Social Security Scotland will now be responsible for delivering payments to older people who have care needs because of a disability or long-term health condition. 

The payment is available to all pension age people living in Scotland, regardless of their financial circumstances. The 169,000 older people already receiving Attendance Allowance do not need to do anything as awards will be transferred automatically.  

As Scotland’s largest independent advice network, we’re ready to support people to navigate the change. From January-March this year, we advised 7,449 people about Attendance Allowance with seven in ten assisted with eligibility and application process enquiries.  

PADP represents the maturing of Scotland’s social security system. Like Attendance Allowance, the amount of PADP a person receives depends on their care needs. Care is defined as a requirement for frequent attention, or supervision, from another person.

A lower payment is made if either daytime or night time care needs are established, and a higher payment is provided if both apply. Unlike Attendance Allowance, PADP is open to anyone eligible who has a terminal diagnosis, no matter how long they’re expected to live. The application is also designed to be easier to navigate, it includes prompts to help applicants understand what information to include. It is also easier for someone else, like a family member or an adviser, to help a person to put in an application.

We can, and must, be ambitious for our older people. And while we largely welcome this change, we’re disappointed to see that PADP excludes mobility issues. This has a huge impact on older communities.

For example, our advisers have pointed out that many older people are incurring additional transport costs because they have stopped driving. There are also more older people living in rural areas, where there can be fewer public transportation and housing options. These older people are at risk of extreme social isolation.   

One adviser movingly recounted to me the experience of an older person who felt that their world had “gotten a little smaller” since losing their leg to an amputation and lacked funds to alleviate isolation. It can be challenging to understand mobility in the context of what might be ordinarily expected as part of the aging process. From enabling work or volunteering to enjoying coffees with friends, everyone should be able to get around in older age so they can remain part of and enrich their communities and avoid isolation.   

Financial support for older people who have mobility needs could play a transformative role in enabling dignity, independence and allowing people to flourish throughout life. It can help older people weather storms such as bereavement and other life events.

Only with a vision for social security bold as this can the goal of a Scotland in which all can thrive be realised.  

Erica Young is senior policy officer in the social justice at Citizens Advice Scotland.

This column was first published in the Herald www.theherald.co.uk