Plans for new Scottish disability support assessments set out
Changes to the way assessments for disability support will be carried out under Scotland's new social security agency have been announced at Holyrood.
3 Mar 2019
Changes to the way assessments for disability support will be carried out under Scotland's new social security agency have been announced at Holyrood.
Ministers have set out a full timetable for the rollout of benefits run by Scotland's new social security agency. Holyrood is taking over responsibility for 11 benefits, including disability living allowance, personal independence payments and carers' allowances. Overall responsibility for all of these welfare payments will sit with the Scottish government from April 2020. But opposition MSPs highlighted that the full transfer of cases and payments might not be complete until 2024.
Good design touches our lives every day. From the cars we drive to the beds we sleep in, the equipment and products that we use have been constructed to make our lives easier. But often the design decisions fail to take into account those with physical limitations. We are concerned that people with arthritis are missing out because designers have not thought about the challenges they face.
New figures from the Office for National Statistics on sandwich carers - those who care for both sick, disabled or older relatives and dependent children - show this group are more likely to report symptoms of mental ill-health, feel less satisfied with life, and struggle financially compared with the general population.
A woman who cares for her severely disabled brother has said funding cuts have negatively affected her life, as pressure to change the system grows. Jayne Newman, from Newport, said she was given "no reason" for a loss of support, which saw 15 hours of care for her brother Tommy cut.
English councils have overspent by at least £324m on their budgets for young adults and children with special needs this financial year, the BBC has found. Of the 136 local authorities that provided information to the BBC under Freedom of Information laws, 123 have overspent on their high needs budget.