Completing disability living allowance statements for children and young people

About disability living allowance

DLA is a benefit for children which is made up of two components: a care component and a mobility component. A child may qualify for one or both of the components depending on their circumstances.

Broadly,

• the care component is for children who need:
  • extra attention from others in connection with their ‘bodily functions’. This includes help with things like learning at school and help they need with communication, social interaction, concentrating and staying motivated; as well as help with tasks such as dressing, eating, using the toilet and washing. Needing prompting or encouragement with these tasks can count, as well as actual physical help, or
  • extra supervision to avoid danger to themselves or others.
• the mobility component is for children who:
  • have a physical condition that makes it very difficult for them to walk outside (including, for example, children whose walking difficulties arise from autism or because they have Down's syndrome), or
  • are mentally or physically disabled and need substantially more guidance or supervision when outdoors than a child of their age, who is not disabled, would need
  • in some circumstances, have a ‘severe mental impairment' and 'severe behavioural problems' which mean they need someone to watch over them and regularly need someone to intervene and restrain them from causing injury or damage.

For pupils under 16, their needs must be greater than those of someone the same age who does not have a disability or health problem or be similar to those that a younger child would be expected to have.

Providing a supporting statement

Often when a parent or carer claims disability living allowance (DLA) for a child, they ask someone to complete a supporting statement.

This is because a page of the DLA claim form asks them to get a statement confirming the child or young person’s difficulties from someone who knows the child. If you are asked to provide a supporting statement, first think about whether you are best placed to provide the statement or if a colleague knows the child better. If nobody at school can provide a statement, check whether the parent or carer has asked other medical or social care professionals who are involved with the pupil, as they may be able to help.

If you are willing to provide a statement, you might find it useful to read the rest of the DLA form, to see the things that the pupil’s parent or carer has felt it is important to mention. 

It is better to copy the page of the DLA claim form regarding the statement and return the form to the parent or carer. If the form goes missing, or there is a delay in returning it to the DLA office, the family may lose money. The statement you write can be attached to the form or you can return it to the parent separately. It is important to write the name, date of birth and national insurance number of the pupil on the statement you write. It should be returned to the parent as soon as possible, or a decision may be made on the claim without your extra information.

If you can, it is best to provide a specific statement for the claim. If you are not able to do this, a copy of a special educational needs support assessment, individual education plan, education, health and care (EHC) plan, individual development plan or statement of special educational needs may demonstrate some of the extra help that the pupil needs. It is not usually a good idea to provide a school report. The focus on a pupil’s achievements and progress means that school reports are not likely to show clearly the extra help that a pupil needs.

Writing the statement

The following points may be helpful when completing a statement:

• What is relevant to the DLA claim is what the pupil has difficulty doing, rather than what they can do without difficulty, so concentrate your statement on the difficulties the pupil has.
• State all of the pupil’s disabilities and health problems that you are aware of.
• If the pupil needs help with taking medication or other treatment at school, including emergency medications, explain this.
• If the school is non-mainstream, indicate the staff-pupil ratio, and any specialist training that staff have.
• If the education is in a mainstream setting, and classroom-based support is provided to the pupil, explain what support is provided and any other extra help that is needed.
• If the pupil needs to use any special classroom materials or techniques (such as Braille materials, signing, etc.), and if help is needed to use these, please explain this in your statement.
• If the pupil has any behavioural difficulties, please explain this, and explain what staff do to help overcome them.
• If the pupil has any difficulties with the logistics of school life, for example, caused by physical problems getting around school, memory problems, or the need to follow a fixed routine, explain this.
• If the pupil needs extra help with personal care tasks during school hours, please explain this. For example, this might include tasks like:
  • using the toilet or dealing with incontinence;
  • changing for PE classes;
  • eating and drinking, including managing special diets.
• If extra arrangements need to be made for school trips, explain this and whether extra needs result from the pupil’s physical disability or a requirement for close supervision. This also applies if the school’s arrangements already provide a high level of supervision, even if no extra arrangements are in place for a particular pupil.
• If the pupil needs extra help outside of school hours that you are aware of, explain this. (This is especially relevant to staff in residential schools).
• The most important thing is to use your knowledge of the individual pupil to make clear the extra help that they require, compared to a child without disabilities.

Information and advice for parents and carers

Contact, a charity for families who have children with disabilities, has helpful information on its website: ‘Tips on completing the Disability Living Allowance form’. For advice, get in touch with Contact by phone, email, webform or via its social media channels. For details go to the helpline page on Contact’s website.

Citizens Advice, a local authority welfare rights unit or a specialist disability charity may be able to help a parent or carer claim DLA.

There is helpful information about starting a claim for DLA at gov.uk.