ILF responds to the Commission on Funding of Care and Support
17 February 2011
Disabled people with high support needs require dedicated support to achieve independent living according to the Independent Living Fund (ILF).
The ILF makes its proposal in response to the call for evidence from the Commission on Funding of Care and Support in England. It argues that, irrespective of who is charged with providing it, a specific source of ring fenced funding for independent living with effective client support is necessary to enable disabled people to live the same active lives as non-disabled people in their local community.
Nick Danagher, ILF Trustee and Chair of the ILF Advisory Group of disabled people said,
"Our experience shows that effective support comes from combining funding from local authorities with extra support from the benefit system that is focused on independent living, and puts money directly under the control of disabled people to buy and organise the support they need to live at home and be active citizens like anyone else. Local authorities focus on critical care needs and struggle to find the money to support independent living outcomes for their service users. Even in difficult economic times, everyone should have the right to live in their own home."
In submitting its evidence the ILF acknowledges that prioritisation is essential in the difficult financial climate, and consultation is needed on how support should be delivered in the future.
Ministers want the future of the ILF to be considered through consultation in light of the Commission’s findings expected later this year.
For more information contact David Smith on 07779 083493.
Notes to editors
- The ILF makes cash payments to over 20,000 disabled people with high support needs in all parts of the UK to assist with meeting the cost of the support they require to achieve independent living. It enables those who face the greatest barriers to independent living to remain living in the community rather than in residential care and to play an active part in their community as full citizens. The ILF, as an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body of the Department for Work and Pensions, occupies a unique place in the system of support used by disabled people, bridging the support provided by local authorities and the benefits system.
- The ILF provides financial assistance under the terms of a single publicly financed discretionary Trust Deed – The Independent Living Fund (2006), governed by a board of nine Trustees.
- The ILF currently provides financial support to over 20,000 disabled people in the UK, and has supported over 46,500 disabled people during the last 22 years.
- The ILF’s allocated budget for 2010-11 is £348m for Great Britain and £11.2m for Northern Ireland.
- The ILF is a funding stream within the DWP programme to develop the Right to Control, which is testing new ways of working together to better combine support arrangements for disabled people, through seven Trailblazer sites across England.