Changes to the Personal Independence Payment

Following wide-spread criticism of the new Personal Independence Payment (PIP) which replaces DLA the Government undertook a consultation.

One of the Key recommendations for change is the automatic eligibility for a Blue Badge:

“Therefore, having carefully considered the responses to the consultation, Ministers have decided that, when DLA is replaced by PIP, there should still be a legislative link that means those people who score 8 points or more in the ‘Moving Around’ activity of PIP will be automatically eligible for a Blue Badge.  This activity assesses a person’s physical ability to get around and a score of 8 points or more will be awarded to people who are either unable to walk or who cannot walk further than approximately 50 metres.  This means that eligibility for a Blue Badge will continue to be as similar to the current eligibility criteria for the scheme as possible.”