Disabled People

Part of the debate – in the Scottish Parliament at on 16 May 2017.

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Photo of Jeremy Balfour Jeremy Balfour Conservative

As the minister will be aware, only 6 per cent of people who are refused PIP appeal that refusal, so it is clear that the majority of people who do not get PIP accept that the decision was correct.

We need to look at how assessments are done. I am not saying that the decision is right in every case. In my experience, when I filled out the PIP form and went to the assessment, I was treated with respect and it all went smoothly, but I accept that not everyone has that experience.

I am slightly concerned about where the Government is going when it says that we should rely on medical records, and on letters from teachers and social workers. Such documents have value, but my 20 years’ experience—including, at tribunals, an exercise in which we used to get all the medical records in—tells me that most doctors do not know whether I need help to peel a potato or to get in and out of the bath. The answers to those questions can come only from direct evidence.

Mairi Evans said that we need to reform the system but gave us no ideas about how. Will we have no decisions, with everybody who applies for an award getting it? Where will the lines be drawn? Is it 50 yards, 100 yards or 200 yards for a Motability car? The Government has simply not answered such questions.