20/03/2014
After a passionate battle to save it, The Independent Living Fund is to be axed. Users of the fund who have severe disabilities and need help to finance their social care support, hoped that the fund might be saved at the last minute, but it was not to be.
The fund will close in June 2015, after a decision made by the government following an equality impact assessment. Those who use the Independent Living Fund will then be supported instead by their local authorities instead, or by devolved administration outside of England. Campaigners who appealed to save the fund are concerned about the impact of these changes, stating that more than 18,000 recipients of the fund will be left at the mercy of the differing policies and decisions made by individual councils.Some talked of how different their lives had been prior to accessing the Independent Living Fund and their fears of how their lives may return to levels of “extremely basic” care.
The equality impact assessment that the government carried out does little to dispel these fears, with a report claiming that most users will face real changes to the delivery of their support and a “real possibility” of funding cuts. The ILF’s £262m budget is to be divided between local councils and devolved administrations based on geographical spending forecasts, and has been described as a “postcode lottery”. With local authorities in charge, control over how the money is spent will be taken away from the users who need it, and many may find that they can no longer employ their personal assistants or get extra support for social activities that they once had.Nottingham County Council carried out an assessment of the likely impact of losing the ILF in a case study of 22 local recipients in the county. In 16 cases there would be no change, and for another 3, the council would find funding from either the Continuing Health Care or the allocated ILF funds. In 2 cases a review of the user’s support needs would be carried out and in the final case the user would lose some of the support they already have in place. Some of the services likely to be axed would be for cleaning and social time as these services would not be covered by the local authority. While councils will receive some of the ILF funding, in England this money is not protected, and so can be spent on whatever the council deems fit.
Director of policy for Disability Rights, Sue Bott, was quick to point out that social care is already underfunded, and that this situation is now likely to deteriorate further.Nottingham County Council noted in their assessment that after the transfer ILF users would pay less towards their social care, which could result in a £500,000 shortfall in the funds that would be required to support users.
On a more positive note, the Care Bill which comes into force in April 2015 may mean that recipients of the ILF will have more services paid for directly by the council. For those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the position is less clear as the devolved administrations consider their options before making any decision.
The real impact of the closure of the ILF cannot be fully known until the transfer is underway, and the ILF are canvassing the opinions of those who receive support about their care needs in order to pass on this information to the local authorities who will take over the reins. While some recipients of the ILF have already had their care needs reviewed, others will have their situation assessed in the next few months.
Disability Rights UK are keen to help people with the transition through the use of their website and helpline, and to make sure that they get the best possible support package going forward.
