Cuts fear for disabled

Hundreds of desperate families in Scotland are living in fear of losing out on £61m of funding due to government cutbacks.

The money is Scotland’s share of the Independent Living Fund, a £360m pot for some of the most disabled people in the UK, which was set up to help those who choose to live in the community rather than in residential care.

In some cases, families use the money to pay for additional carers to enable disabled adults to have a social life, or take part in sports or other activities. For many it helps to provide a break for family members who often undertake hours of unpaid caring duties.

Disability campaigners were already concerned about a decision taken earlier this year to refuse applications from anyone not working a minimum of 16 hours a week. Then in June, after two months of the financial year, the fund was effectively closed for business as it had run out of money for new applicants.

Now, officials within the Department for Work and Pensions have warned a Scottish disability project that the fund could be handed over to local councils, or the Department of Health, but with no money to fund new applicants. After that it could face complete closure within four years.

Pam Duncan, of the Independent Living in Scotland Project, said officials had suggested that people who currently receive ILF money would be the last to do so.

According to background briefings received by the project, options under consideration ahead of the Government’s comprehensive spending review include handing over ring-fenced money to councils and health boards – in Scotland via the Scottish Government – but only protecting it for three to four years.

Meanwhile cash no longer needed because people’s circumstances change, or because the claimant has died, will be taken back into the Treasury as savings.

“Existing users will be the last set of users who will access ILF funding – for how long is not decided – and the situation for new applicants is bleak”, Miss Duncan said.

As the DWP, like other departments, searches for savings to be put into the spending review, officials appear set to recommend that after three to four years, health boards or local authorities would be asked to provide support, without the benefit of ILF funds, she added.

Miss Duncan, whose project is run by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in Glasgow, said this would be a false economy, and simply increase the pressure on other budgets, but would also undermine the ability of disabled people to take part in society as full and equal citizens. Given the financial pressures on councils, most will be unable to expect more than basic personal care, she added: “Without the money, people will be left with ‘life and limb’’ support’ as local authorities simply cannot meet the demand it would create.”

While accepting that the proposals are not yet set in stone, Miss Duncan is pessimistic. “They say that they will consult about how the remaining money is spent, later, but they have decided that it will close,” she said. “It is pretty much a fait accomplit. We think they should be consulting now, about that.”

The idea that local authorities might pick up the cost of independent living fund packages is unrealistic, according to Loretto Lambe, director of the Dundee-based charity Pamis, which works to help people with profound and complex learning disabilities. In fact, she says, many local authorities now depend on ILF cash for statutory care of disabled people which they should be providing. “The local authorities began relying too heavily on it. It was meant to be for things over and above their basic care needs, but it has become a really key component of the care package.”

“People are really worried about what is happening. Research has shown that families of the most disabled children spend between 8.5 and 13.5 hours a day doing basic caring tasks. If that person is not in a day service, for example, you can see what is going to happen to the mother and father. More people will be going into residential settings because parents just won’t cope. And that is much more costly.”

Many disability organisations are also deeply suspicious of the idea that councils should be given the ILF money even if ring-fenced –because it has in the past acted as a valuable source of independence for disabled people, who are otherwise dependent upon councils to meet their care needs.

Danielle Gray, of Glasgow, currently receives money from the ILF. She is 23, and has suffered from a neurodevelopmental disorder, microcephaly, from birth and suffers from cerebral palsy. She is quadriplegic, and has to be fed through a tube. The funding enables her to go to Touchbase, a state of the art disability resource run by Sense Scotland in Glasgow, five days a week.

“She gets one-to-one care, stimulation through music and art, hydrotherapy, a sensory room and other things,” says Danielle’s mum Jean. Danielle’s delight at going back to the centre after a recent four month hospitalisation was plain to see, Mrs Gray adds. She is aghast at the suggestion that the fund might be allowed to wither.

“Most of the people who use Touchbase are on ILF – how would they cope without it? I’m 61 and Danielle is not a well wee girl. My husband and I rely on this centre. We are glad of any respite we can get.

“Mr [David] Cameron had a child with special needs himself. He more than anybody would know how important this is.”

According to Pamis Project Officer Alana McDicken, and Pam Duncan, council care packages are now frequently dependent on whether or not ILF can be obtained. Ms McDicken said: “Families often feel that social work’s consideration of any need changes. Phrases like ‘needs-led’, or ‘all about your child’ go out the window.

“It is all resource-led, now. There are a whole generation of social workers now who don’t know how to create a package without this money.”

Michelle Miller, president of the Association of Directors of Social Work, is critical of the suggestion that social workers are over-dependent on ILF. “It is quite insulting to social workers who work very hard in difficult circumstances to come up with creative solutions for people they support,” she said.

She added: “No local authorities are dependent on the fund. But everybody currently in receipt of the funding depends on it.

“When it was set up it represented for very disabled people, a very significant additional source of choice and control. The reasons for setting it up haven’t gone away.

“It is being seen as an easy target, but leaving local authorities to pick up the tab won’t work. There’s no way that they will be able to afford to and the reality is that people’s quality of life will reduce.”

The coalition government insists that, at present, discussion of the future of the ILF is just speculation and will not comment on detail. Maria Miller, Minister for Disabled People, told the Herald: “The Government is committed to ensuring that severely disabled people get the support they need and will consider and settle the long-term future of the Independent Living Fund as part of the forthcoming Spending Review.”

However the Scottish Government is believed to be extremely concerned about the future of the ILF, and earlier this month, minister for Public Health Shona Robison confirmed the Scottish Government is currently in ongoing talks with the DWP about its plans for the fund.