[2024] UKUT 450 (AAC)

I am grateful to the Respondent for the supplementary submissions which are directed to the above issues.

PIP is dealt with in Part 4 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (“the Act”). Section 77 introduces the allowance and establishes that a person may be in entitled to one or both of its two components, namely “the daily living component” and “the mobility component”. Sections 78 and 79 of the Act set out the entitlement to PIP, providing that each component can be paid at one of two rates: at a standard rate for those with ‘limited ability’ or at an enhanced rate for those with ‘severely limited ability’.

Section 80 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 provides that the question of ‘whether a person’s ability to carry out daily living activities or mobility activities is limited by the person’s physical or mental condition’ is to be determined in accordance with regulations.

Daily living activities are prescribed in the Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013 (“the Regulations”) at Sch.1, part 2 and the mobility activities are prescribed at Sch.1, part 3 of the regulations. The tables for both components list the prescribed activities. Column 2 focuses on the ability of the claimant to carry out each activity on an ascending scale ranging from the ability to carry out the activity unaided to being unable to carry out the activity. Column 3, attributes points, according to the level of ability measured in the descriptors; the greater the functional impairment of the claimant to carry out the activity the greater the number of points awarded.

The ascending descriptors measure whether the functional impairment to undertake the prescribed activity can be improved or overcome using an aid or appliance, supervision or prompting or assistance (as defined below). The lack of an ability or limited ability to carry out an activity must arise from a mental or physical cause. Physical will mean anything connected, with the claimant’s bodily function including experiencing sensation such as pain, breathlessness or dizziness, while mental, includes any mental health condition, or intellectual or cognitive impairment (see MR v SSWP (PIP) [2017] UKUT 86 (AAC)).

Regulation 5 provides that the points attributed for each daily living are to be added together and, if the total is at least 8 but less than 12, the claimant has a “limited ability to carry out daily living activities,” and is entitled to the standard rate. If the claimant has a total of 12 points or more, they will be classed as having “severely limited ability” and would be entitled to the enhanced rate. The above applies equally to mobility activities.