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Disability living allowance and personal independence payment
If your child is away at school and the local authority is paying any of the costs of the accommodation, board or personal care, the disability living allowance (DLA) care component or personal independence payment (PIP) daily living component for the child stops after four weeks.1Regs 9 and 10 SS(DLA) Regs; regs 28 and 30 SS(PIP) Regs The mobility component of DLA/PIP is not affected and continues to be paid.
Two or more periods away at school separated by 28 days or less count as the same period.2Reg 10(5) SS(DLA) Regs; reg 32(4) SS(PIP) Regs This means that once the DLA care component/PIP daily living component has stopped, if your child comes home for a period of 28 days or less, the DLA care component/PIP daily living component is payable while s/he is at home (see below), but it stops again as soon as s/he goes back to school.
The day on which your child goes away to school and the day s/he comes home do not count as days away at school.3Reg 9(7) SS(DLA) Regs; reg 32(2) SS(PIP) Regs
It is expected that DLA for children will start to be replaced in Scotland from 2021 by child disability payment (see here). It is expected that similar rules will apply to child disability payment.
 
1     Regs 9 and 10 SS(DLA) Regs; regs 28 and 30 SS(PIP) Regs  »
2     Reg 10(5) SS(DLA) Regs; reg 32(4) SS(PIP) Regs  »
3     Reg 9(7) SS(DLA) Regs; reg 32(2) SS(PIP) Regs  »
If your child comes home temporarily
Once the DLA care component/PIP daily living component has stopped, it should be paid for any day your child spends at home, including the day s/he comes home and the day s/he leaves to go back to school. It is important to tell the Disability Benefit Centre (see Appendix 1) when your child goes away to school and about any days spent at home. The amount of DLA care component/PIP daily living component you get for days your child spends at home is worked out by using a daily rate of the care/daily living component (one-seventh of the weekly amount).1Reg 25 SS(C&P) Regs; reg 50(1) UC,PIP,JSA&ESA(C&P) Regs Similar rules are expected to apply for child disability payment when it replaces DLA for children in Scotland.
Example
Sanjit is aged 10 and starts attending a residential school because of his disability. He is entitled to the DLA mobility component at the higher rate and the care component at the highest rate. His first day at his new school is 31 August 2020. Every few weeks he comes home for a long weekend. He comes home on Thursday afternoon and returns to school on Tuesday morning. The dates of his first weekend at home are Thursday 1 October 2020 to Tuesday 6 October 2020. Sanjit’s DLA remains in payment for the first 28 days away at school. After that, the mobility component remains in payment, but the care component stops. This means that the last day for which the care component is payable is 28 September 2020. When Sanjit comes home for the weekend, the care component is payable for six days (Thursday 1 October to Tuesday 6 October).
 
1     Reg 25 SS(C&P) Regs; reg 50(1) UC,PIP,JSA&ESA(C&P) Regs »