We are encouraging people to respond to the PIP consultation and mentioning assistance dogs within it. You can respond to the consultation at this link
Or you can send this template email to consultation.modernisingsupport@DWP.GOV.UK
Please remember to include your name on the submission, please also add whether you are an individual or an organisation. We also encourage assistance dog handlers to include their own experiences in the email.
Read and copy the template email
Press the ‘Open Email’ button or your normal email client with the recipient to consultation.modernisingsupport@DWP.GOV.UK
Paste the email and customise with your name, whether you are an individual or organisation, and your own experience (optional)
Send!
Dear Disability and Health Support Directorate,
Assistance dogs are a vital part of the day-to-day lives of over 7000 disabled people in the UK. They can be life-changing auxiliary aids and help their handlers access public spaces, education and work. Unfortunately, the cost of these fantastic dogs is high, so we believe they should be considered significantly in the current consultation on Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
The current definition used for PIP is unfit for purpose and currently only includes assistance dogs for sensory impairments. This leaves out 1000s of assistance dog handlers from around the UK who have other types of disabilities, including autism, mental health-related disabilities, epilepsy, physical disabilities and others. We believe that the definition of assistance dog should align with the allowances of the Equality Act 2010 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995.
The cost of an assistance dog on a handler can vary greatly. For organisation-trained assistance dogs, training costs are often partially or entirely covered by the organisation. However, this is not entirely the case, with some organisations charging £7,000 to £13,000+ for an assistance dog. For organisations where training costs are covered, handlers still often have to cover other areas of care for a dog, such as vet bills, food, flea and tick medicine and enrichment. For owner trainers, costs can be even higher as they have to pay for the cost of the dog, upkeep, and sometimes private training. In some cases, the dogs they have trained will not complete their training, which can mean that an individual can pay the price of training for two dogs in only a handful of years. Not only this, but most assistance dogs retire when they reach 7-10 years old, leading to recurring costs.
In some cases, adult social care or an NHS personal budget can be used to pay for a dog, but success on this varies, so most dogs are self-financed by the individual or organisation. This has made PIP a vital part of financing an assistance dog, and the original cost of the dog and general upkeep should be considered in how PIP is developed going forward.
Kind regards,
