Threshold

dialuk.info publishes Threshold: a description of how disability is defined, counted and governed in the United Kingdom.

Three definitions are in use at once — one in law, one in the survey questionnaires that produce the official statistics, and one in the assessments that govern benefit awards. They do not identify the same people, which is why two official figures for the same subject can differ by millions. This site describes that machinery: the question wording that decides the number, the instruments the statistics come from and how often they run, the differences measured year after year, and which body is responsible for what.

What every entry does

Every entry names the definition or the source it depends on, and the year. Where official figures disagree, the entry says so instead of choosing between them. Where a value is uncertain, disputed or unpublished, the entry describes the measure rather than estimating it.

What this site is not

It is not an advice, advocacy or support service. It does not interpret law or guidance for any individual, and it carries nothing about benefits, entitlements, eligibility, applications, appeals, rights or services that a reader could act on about their own circumstances. It describes what a definition says and where it comes from — never what it means for anybody.

Corrections are welcome, particularly where a figure has been superseded or a series has been revised.