High rate mobility and DS1500s

I have had a small number of cases in the past few months where we have been very clear that a client has no mobility issues at all yet they are being awarded high rate mobility alongside the highest rate care component for Disability Living Allowance.  Is this normal, has legislation changed on this issue?

Anyone with any thoughts on the matter, we are currently waiting for the DCS to get back to us on this as they seem to be as puzzled as we are.

Those of us who deal with special rules DLA claims all the time know that getting high-rate mobility comp under special rules is like pushing an open door.  That said, if no mobility needs are declared then no award should be made. 

I think the criteria regarding mobility comp under special rules (ie. no 3 months qualifying time) is not particularly helpful.  If a client starts to struggle to walk one day, say following treatment, then on that day the client would seem to qualify for high-rate mob.  Technically, if the client recovers a change of circumstances has occured and DWP should be informed.  If done by the book the cliient could be left in a ridiculous ongoing situation.

For this reason I think the DWP are generous and practical when it comes to special rules, and this has probably led to the decisions that you describe.  It would make sense to award the mobility comp automatically under special rules, as with the care comp

About 18 months ago I had a discussion about this with a decision maker at the Disability and Carers Service.  It sounds like a similar case - when filling in the claim form the client was clear he had no mobility problems so we left the whole section blank.  The award came back with the expected high rate care but with the added complication of high rate mobility - client was very concerned he was getting something he wasn’t entitled to so I contacted them.  I was eventually told by the decision maker that effectively the DS1500 is passed by one of their medical team, primarily for a check that the condition is one appropriate for a DS1500.  That person will make a recommendation about mobility as well as care needs and the decision maker will implement the appropriate components according to that rather than the claim form.  I think this is done with the best of intentions but it does make some clients very uneasy and I think there are some complications about reporting changes as the clients have not identified the needs in the first place.

I have just spoken to the decision maker on the case I’m talking about and as stated above, his DS1500 was passed onto the medical team who advised to award both care and mobility so they are just following the medical recommendation.  To be fair to the DWP, I have yet to be knocked back for mobility under a DS1500.