Inverness and Nairn MP Drew Hendry finally secures rule change that allows terminally ill people to access fast-tracked support from the Department of Work and Pensions after campaigning on the issue for years
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Highland MP Drew Hendry has welcomed a rule change that will allow more terminally ill people to access fast-tracked support from the Department of Work and Pensions.
The rule change that comes into effect today will mean that people living with a terminal illness and a diagnosis of 12 months to live will now be able to access fast-tracked financial support.
Previously this support was only available to people with a diagnosis of six months or less to live, forcing many people with so little time left to wait for benefits, including many who were unable to work.
These changes to eligibility criteria mean that more people living with a terminal illness will be able to access social security support quickly without undertaking the same rigorous claimant process as everyone else.
It marks a significant milestone for Mr Hendry who has led the campaign to extend fast-tracked benefits to more terminally ill people for years, having been alerted to the issues terminally ill people faced by staff at MacMillan CAB at Raigmore.
In 2017, the SNP MP set up a cross-party group to campaign to extend support to more people living with terminal illnesses. A damning report commissioned by the group, chaired by Mr Hendry, followed.
The UK government announced that it would be changing the rules and that included blanket exemptions for the terminally ill to the claimant commitment usually required to be eligible to claim benefits.
The rule change concerns Universal Credit and ESA but eligibility criteria remain unchanged for other social security support, such as Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment and Attendance Payments.
The Scottish Government has already committed to end the arbitrary six-month rule for all social security payments when it takes over Personal Independence Payments under the new Social Security Scotland.
Mr Hendry and campaigners are calling on the UK government to follow Scotland's lead and extend eligibility to fast-tracked support for all social security payments.
He said: "It should be unthinkable that anyone living with a terminal illness diagnosis should spend their final months trying to jump through hoops to get much needed social security support.
"Today's rule change will mean many of them won't have to do this any more, and while it is a small change, it is an important and hard-fought one.
"Thankfully, thousands more people living with a terminal illness diagnosis can access the support they and their families need.
"For years, I have campaigned alongside terminally ill campaigners and organisations such as Marie Curie and MND to get the UK Government to act.
“Unfortunately, the change has come too late for many thousands who have now passed away, but it is still a massive victory for those campaigners – many of whom have shared their own heart-breaking stories with MPs and the media in the hope of getting the UK government to act.
"The pernicious requirement to prove that death will come within six months of a terminal diagnosis has thankfully moved to twelve months; however, the rule changes still need to go further.
"The Scottish Government decided, years ago, that this would not apply to social security support under the control of the Scottish Parliament, but the UK Government has dithered and delayed as people often died with no financial support in their final months.
"Without delay, the UK government needs to follow their lead and extend this change to Personal Independence Payment, Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance."
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