A woman who has experienced the disability benefits system on both sides of the border has described a dramatic improvement in how she is treated since moving from a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) benefit to a new Scottish system.
A gruelling process under DWP
Caroline Cawley detailed her difficult experience with the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) process in England to the Big Issue Magazine, in conjunction with the charity Turn2Us. She described a "gruelling 12-month process" that had a significant negative impact on her life.
During her assessment, she felt completely disregarded. "I sat there explaining symptoms to the top of someone’s head," Caroline recalled. "The assessor didn’t even look at me." This was particularly challenging for her as she lives with invisible conditions and hidden disabilities, which are less obvious to assessors.
She explained the exhausting reality of proving her illness, stating, "You learn quickly that being ill isn’t enough. You have to prove it over and over."
A more humane approach in Scotland
Now living in Scotland, Caroline's experience with Social Security Scotland's Adult Disability Payment (ADP) has been markedly different. She found the entire process to be a vast improvement.
"They filled out the form with me during the session," she said, contrasting it with her previous ordeal. "It was much more like a conversation than a test."
The questioning style was fundamentally different. Instead of specific, closed questions like ‘Can you hoover?’, the assessor asked, ‘How do you manage to keep your flat clean?’ Caroline described this approach as "open-ended, natural, friendly and not interrogative."
A call for systemic change
Caroline believes the DWP in England could learn a significant amount from the system now operating in Scotland. She articulated a powerful vision for what the social security system should be.
"No one person is an island," she stated. "You break your leg: you go to the hospital; you get a chest infection: you go to the doctor... you lose your job when you get sick: you go to the social security system. It should be as easy and automatic as that."
She emphasised that individuals should not have to repeatedly justify their need for help and that support should be provided without stigma. "We all pay into the system," Caroline concluded. "We’re all entitled to get support from the system, and that needs to be remembered."
As more claimants are moved from DWP benefits to Social Security Scotland, her testimony highlights a growing divergence in the approach to welfare between the two nations.
