9. Disability living allowance

9. Disability living allowance

• Who can get disability living allowance
• Disability test: care component
• Disability test: mobility component
• Amount of benefit

Disability living allowance (DLA) is a benefit for people aged under 16 who have mobility problems and/or care needs as a result of a disability. DLA is being replaced in Scotland by child disability payment (CDP) (see here). This change started in 2021 and most, if not all, children getting DLA who live in Scotland have now been tranferred to CDP.

DLA has two components:

•a care component, paid at either the lowest, middle or highest rate; and
•a mobility component, paid at either the lower or the higher rate.

You can get either the care component or the mobility component, or both. DLA is not means tested and you do not have to have paid any national insurance contributions to get it.

The DWP is responsible for the administration of DLA.

Who can get disability living allowance

• Disability test: care component
• Disability test: mobility component

A child can qualify for DLA if:1ss71, 72 and 73 SSCBA 1992

•they are under age 16 when you first claim; and
•they satisfy certain UK residence and presence conditions, and are not a ‘person subject to immigration control’. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook for details; and
•they satisfy the disability test for the care component (see here) and/or the mobility component (see here); and
•they have satisfied the disability test for the last three months and are likely to continue to do so for the next six months (unless they are terminally ill).

 

1     ss71, 72 and 73 SSCBA 1992 »

Disability test: care component

To get the care component, the child must have a physical or mental disability which means they need the following kind of care from another person. What is important is the help they need rather than the help they actually get.

It can be paid at either the lowest, middle or highest rate.

A child gets the lowest rate if they need attention in connection with bodily functions (see here) for a significant portion of the day. This attention might be given all at once or spread out. It should normally add up to about an hour or more, or be made up of several brief periods.

A child gets the middle rate if they need care either during the day or during the night, but not both. They get the middle rate if they meet one (or both) of the day care conditions or one (or both) of the night care conditions.

A child gets the highest rate if they need care both during the day and the night. They get the highest rate if they meet one (or both) of the day care conditions and one (or both) of the night care conditions. Alternatively, they should get the highest rate if they are terminally ill. This means that they have a progressive disease and can reasonably be expected to die as a result within 12 months.

There is no lower age limit for the care component. A child under 16 must show that their need for attention or supervision is substantially in excess of the normal needs of other children of the same age without a disability or similar to those of a younger child without a disability.

 

Day care conditions

•A child needs frequent attention throughout the day in connection with their bodily functions (see here). This means they may qualify if they need help several times (not just once or twice), spread throughout the day. If they need help just in the mornings and evenings, for instance, they may get the lowest rate.
•A child needs continual supervision throughout the day in order to avoid substantial danger to themself or others. The supervision needs to be frequent or regular, but need not be literally continuous.

 

Night care conditions

•A child needs prolonged or repeated attention at night in connection with their bodily functions (see here). They should qualify if they need help once in the night for 20 minutes or more. They should also qualify if they need help twice in the night (or more often), however long it takes.
•In order to avoid substantial danger to themself or others, a child needs another person to be awake at night for a prolonged period (20 minutes or more) or at frequent intervals (three times or more) to watch over them.

 

Attention with bodily functions

This is help from someone to do personal things a child cannot do entirely by themself. Bodily functions are things like breathing, hearing, seeing, eating, drinking, walking, sitting, sleeping, getting in or out of bed, dressing, undressing, communicating and using the toilet. Any help in connection with an impaired bodily function counts if it involves personal contact (physical or verbal in your presence) and it is reasonably required.

Disability test: mobility component

A child can get either the lower or higher rate mobility component.

The lower rate is for children who can walk but who need guidance or supervision. A child qualifies if they are able to walk, but a mental or physical disability means they cannot walk outdoors without guidance or supervision from someone else most of the time.

A child can still qualify if they are able to manage on familiar routes. If they cannot manage without guidance or supervision on unfamiliar routes, or cannot manage anywhere, they should qualify.

The higher rate is for children who cannot walk or have great difficulty walking because of a physical disability. A child qualifies if:

•they are unable to walk; or
•they have no legs or feet; or
•they are virtually unable to walk. This takes account of the distance you can walk before you feel severe discomfort. There is no set distance at which you pass or fail the test. Some people have passed who can walk 100 metres; others have failed who can walk only 50 metres. The speed at which you walk and how you walk also count; or
•the exertion required to walk would lead to a danger to their life or could cause a serious deterioration in their health; or
•they are deaf and blind; or
•they are severely visually impaired.

A child who is severely mentally impaired may also qualify if they get the highest rate care component and meet other conditions. This can help a child with severe learning disabilities and disruptive behaviour to get the higher rate mobility component even if they are physically able to walk.

A child has to be at least age three to get the higher rate mobility component and at least age five to get the lower rate mobility component. For the lower rate, they must need substantially more guidance or supervision than a child of the same age without a disability would normally need.

Amount of benefit

Weekly rate
Care component
Lowest rate	£26.90
Middle rate	£68.10
Highest rate	£101.75
Mobility component
Lower rate	£26.90
Higher rate	£71.00

A child winter heating assistance payment is payable if a child is getting DLA care component at the highest rate. This is an annual payment of £235.70. A child is eligible for child winter heating assistance if they are:1WHACYP(S) Regs

•getting (or would be getting if they were not resident in a care home) the highest rate of the care component during the third week of September; and
•aged under 19; and
•resident in Scotland.

You do not have to make a claim for child winter heating assistance - it should be paid automatically by Social Security Scotland in November.

 

1     WHACYP(S) Regs »