Home   News   Article

Badenoch and Strathspey MP welcomes fast-track benefits for terminally ill





SNP MP Drew Hendry has welcomed a rule change that will allow more terminally ill people to access fast-tracked support from the DWP.

The rule change that came into effect yesterday 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 6 months or less to live.

MP Drew Hendry: long campaign for law change.
MP Drew Hendry: long campaign for law change.

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.

Mr Hendry has led the campaign to extend fast-tracked benefits to more terminally ill people for many years, having been alerted to the issues terminally ill people faced by staff at MacMillan CAB at Raigmore.

In 2017, he set up a cross-party group at the UK Parliament to campaign to extend support to more people living with terminal illnesses.

Following a damning report commissioned by the group, which Mr Hendry chaired, the UK government announced that it would be changing the rules. The announcement included blanket exemptions for the terminally ill to the claimant commitment usually required to be eligible to claim benefits.

The rule change comes into effect for Universal Credit and ESA; however, 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.

"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," he said.

"The rule change will mean many of them won't have to do this anymore, 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."

Strathy headlines


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.


This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More