Question re PIP "cannot undertake any journey"

Hi Faith,
The planning journeys etc descriptor (Mobility 1) is complicated, so don't worry if you are struggling with this. (It is probably the most complicated descriptor, not helped by DWP's 'confusion' giving rise to a ruling being required in the High Court!)
The leading case is MH v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (PIP) [2016] UKUT 0531 (AAC) - normally Upper Tribunal judgments are done by a single judge - for complicated law or where detailed clarity has to be made you get a 3 judge panel - as happened with MH - this means that you get the wisdom of three top judges to determine the correct law.
Just to provide some background - after MH was decided DWP tried to amend the law which included the words 'other than for OPD' to add on to 1d and 1f. The amendments were made within a month! The amendments were unlawful, hence the need for the High Court ruling which annulled the amendments and confirmed that MH was the proper law.
When Judges consider the meaning of words/phrases in legislation, they will refer to White Papers (which are details of proposed legislation and why it is needed/what it is trying to achieve,) in addition Judges will look at the whole legislative process which requires discussions and committee groups to consider purpose/wording etc. By examining all the discussions etc Judges can get some insight into what Parliament was intending with the legislation, this helps them unravel the wording and decipher it when there are disputes as to what certain things such as PIP descriptors mean.

The Judges in MH looked at Parliamentary discussion papers - and considered the rationale behind 1e – if you can’t leave home due to ‘overwhelming psychological distress’ you are not as likely to leave home. If so, then you are not going to be able to go out with support so 1f doesn’t need to be considered. Also if you are not going out then there is likely to be less expense hence less points (on it's own 1e gives you standard rate mobility)

1d and 1f – if you can actually leave home and need support then there will be higher overall costs eg taxi fare 1f deals with encouragement to go out and being there to allay anxiety etc so as to avoid OPD or reduce it. (1d is clearly less limiting because you can get to some places alone.) Hence 1f gives sufficient points to get Enhanced rate of mobility.

1d & 1f could relate to eg visually impaired of deaf people or epileptic needing support – more likely to be physical problem (but can still comprise mental health issues)
1b & 1e serious anxiety etc amounting to OPD – mental health problem

1f can be awarded when a person is anxious when going out, but doesn’t get overwhelmed hence no OPD, all 4 reliability criteria per reg 4(2A) eg safely/acceptable standard etc still need to be observed

So... you will need to think of how your disability/need for support fits within the rationale above. If you are to achieve 12 points under 1f, you will have to show
1. A need to be accompanied on all journeys -familiar/unfamiliar
2. What does the other person do or need to do?
3. How does this help you follow a route?
4. Also consider the 'majority of days' pattern - and whether with the help you get fulfils this criteria - or under the aggregating rules you can claim points per reg 7 as explained in the earlier post?
5.If you have the support can you then meet the 'reliability' criteria of reg 4(2A)?

This is complicated, and it is very difficult to get your head around, but hopefully if you do an analytical approach as I have suggested, perhaps with the help of a friend or relative you can work out what level of points you should receive. It might be that you can not legally reach 12 points
Using the analysis above could help you to write the answer on your form, or within an appeal or MR letter as required. You could say eg
"I need to be accompanied when I need to follow a route somewhere whether to a familiar OR unfamiliar place, because I become [explain difficulties]. Being accompanied allows me to [explain what the other person does, and how it helps you to meet the reliability criteria under reg 4(2A)]. Without having someone with me I can not leave the house and go to any places. I should therefore receive 12 points under 1f. "

Whilst I wouldn't mention the rationale behind 1e and 1f simply in a form or renewal, it may be something you would want to refer to if writing some sort of appeal letter. (Refer to MH using the full reference above.)
Hopefully this provides more clarity.
LL26