Chapter 61 -Attendance Allowance and DLA care component -Definitions - Preparation of the Cooked Main Meal

 

61081

The “main meal test” determines a person’s ability to perform key daily tasks. It is not a test of cooking ability. 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 and on a daily basis, not a preprepared or frozen meal which merely requires reheating. Factors such as the type of facilities or equipment available are irrelevant. Whether a person actually prepares and cooks a main meal is not the issue. It is whether that person is capable of performing the necessary skills such as

handling utensils

turning water, electricity and gas taps on and off

peeling and chopping vegetables

using a cooker

coping with hot pans.

This list is not exhaustive.

 

61082

People unable to perform the tasks associated with preparing a cooked main meal for themselves are not normally able to carry out other daily tasks which require similar skills.

61083

Claimants who can manage all the tasks necessary to prepare a cooked main meal, could satisfy the test if they would be at risk of injury whilst cooking. The risk must be of real and tangible danger.

Example

An epileptic experiences frequent and serious fits without warning. There is a risk that he might have a fit whilst chopping vegetables or standing over a cooker. He cannot prepare a daily cooked meal because the disability makes the task dangerous and so he satisfies the test.

61084

The ability to plan a main meal is also important. Some people who have a mental disability may be able to carry out all the different tasks involved separately, but may still be unable to prepare and cook a main meal. This is because they cannot plan it or do all the necessary tasks in a logical way without help

61085

Claimants who are unable because of mental disability to start to prepare a meal or to carry it through once started, will satisfy the condition. The lack of motivation to cook or the fear of cooking must be the result of mental disability.