You need to show that your disability means that you "cannot prepare a main cooked meal for yourself if you have the ingredients" The cookery test is used to judge whether your disability prevents you from carrying out complicated tasks. It is not important whether you actually want to make a meal for yourself- what counts is whether your disability stops you carrying out this kind of task.
The DSS Decision Makers' Guide (paras 61081/82)states that-
The "main meal test" determines a person's ability to perform key daily tasks. It is a hypothetical test to calibrate the severity of a person’s disability. It is not a test of cooking ability or of the person’s ability to survive or enjoy a reasonable diet without assistance. It is a measurement of a person's physical and mental capacity to carry out complex functions. A cooked main meal means a meal for one person freshly cooked on a traditional cooker.
The definitive interpretation of the cooking test is now that of the House of Lords in Moyna v. Secretary of State. This requires taking a broad view over the relevant period of time taking into account the available evidence of the claimant’s abilities and testing them against the hypothetical test. This can be done by looking at the persons abilities to perform activities involved in cooking, including direct evidence of actual difficulties with cooking, such as gripping, lifting, bending, planning, as well as indirect evidence of other activities using the same bodily functions that are normally used in cooking, for example, eating, washing, driving, shopping, cleaning, being aware of danger, or any other physical or mental activity using the same bodily functions as are normally used in cooking.
The cookery test entitles you to the lower rate of DLA, you do not have to attempt to make a meal nor do you have to want to. Nobody is going to "test" your ability to prepare a meal.
-The important thing is whether your disability prevents you from carrying out the task.
-If preparing a meal would put you at risk of injury then you are likely to obtain the lower rate- you would need to show that your disability means that you would be in substantial danger if you were to try to prepare a meal
-People who have a mental illness which prevents them from preparing a meal are also likely to qualify for the lower rate.
-Some people with learning difficulties who are unable to plan and carry out the various stages of preparation are also likely to qualify for the lower rate.
The cookery test does not apply to young people under the age of 16
-planning the order in which things need to be done
-assembling the ingredients,
-making them ready for cooking, eg cleaning and chopping vegetables, trimming the meat.
-filling saucepans
-using a cooker
-strirring, tasting and checking the ingredients as they cook
-lifting the pans on to and off the cooker and in and out of the oven
-draining the vegetables
-dishing up the meal
If you can't do one of the above tasks then you are likely to qualify for the lower rate. "Main cooked meal"- this means a traditional main meal for one person. It is not a sumptuous feast, nor is it a light snack. The kind of meal depends on what is normally eaten in your community as the main meal of the day.
