Adult Disability Payment extended to the whole of Scotland

New claims for Adult Disability Payment (ADP) opened across the whole of Scotland on 29 August 2022, completing a rollout that began in pilot areas earlier that year¹. ADP is the Scottish Government's replacement for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), administered by Social Security Scotland³.

The benefit opened in stages. New claims began in certain areas of Scotland in March 2022 and were gradually extended to the whole of Scotland by 29 August 2022¹. Turn2us recorded the first stage as 21 March 2022, for new claimants in Perth and Kinross, City of Dundee and the Western Isles². A second stage followed on 20 June 2022 in Angus, North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire, and a third on 25 July 2022 in Fife, City of Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, North Ayrshire, East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire². The Scottish Fiscal Commission describes ADP as having opened for applications in March 2022 for people living in pilot areas and launched nationally in August 2022³.

Executive competence for Disability Living Allowance, PIP, Attendance Allowance, Severe Disablement Allowance and Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions to Social Security Scotland on 1 April 2020¹. Carer's Allowance was the first benefit for which executive competence transferred to the Scottish Government, in 2018¹.

The Scottish Fiscal Commission states that the transfer of existing PIP recipients to ADP started in October 2022 and completed in 2025³. Turn2us recorded that Scotland was to begin transferring working age adults in receipt of DLA or PIP onto ADP in August 2022². The Commission expects differences in policy between the UK and Scottish Governments, particularly on eligibility criteria and the application and review processes, to result in higher spending on ADP than would otherwise have been spent on PIP³.

Why it matters for households

From 29 August 2022, people in Scotland of working age applying for disability assistance for the extra costs of a long-term health condition or disability claim ADP rather than PIP¹. Claims made in the pilot areas from March, June and July 2022 were the first to run through the Scottish system². Existing PIP recipients in Scotland were not required to reapply at that point: their awards moved across through a case transfer process that began in October 2022 and completed in 2025³. The Scottish Fiscal Commission expects that policy differences between ADP and PIP, including eligibility criteria and how claims are assessed and reviewed, will mean higher spending on ADP than would have been spent on PIP³.

What happens next

The transfer of PIP recipients to ADP started in October 2022 and completed in 2025³. Pension Age Disability Payment, the Scottish replacement for Attendance Allowance, had a national launch in April 2025, with case transfers completed by the end of 2025³. The case transfer from DLA to Scottish Adult Disability Living Allowance completed at the end of 2025; that payment is closed to new applications and was only available through case transfer from DLA³. Plans for Employment Injuries Assistance, the planned replacement for the Industrial Injuries Disablement Scheme, including its launch date, are still to be confirmed³.

For more detail, see Adult Disability Payment, Money help in Scotland: free guidance and Scottish payments and Personal Independence Payment (PIP): claiming and the assessment.