Budget cuts hit disabled benefits by £700,000 a year

Glasgow City Council is calling on the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to rethink controversial changes to benefits for disabled people which it claims will cost the city £700,000 a year.

The Independent Living Fund (ILF) was set up as a national resource for the financial support of disabled people under the auspices of the DWP.

Hundreds of Glaswegians benefit from the £300million fund – some sources estimate up to half of all Scots claiming the fund live in Glasgow. It is designed to enable them to live richer and more independent lives.

On May 1, criteria for the fund were changed, so that new applicants will only be considered if they work for at least 16 hours a week, and are in receipt of services costing around £340 per week from the council.

Critics say this rules out most applicants: if they need that degree of

support they are unlikely to be able to work significantly. The Scottish Government has estimated that only four people in the whole country would meet the criteria.

In a report to the council’s health and wellbeing committee this week, David Crawford, executive director of Social Work Services at Glasgow City Council, warned: “Only a small minority of current recipients of ILF would be eligible to apply under the revised application criteria. In effect, it has been closed to new applicants.”

He criticised the process by which the critical policy change was introduced: “This change was made with no prior notice or appropriate consultation with stakeholders, including local authorities.”

He added that disabled people in Glasgow currently receive help equivalent to £14.5m a year under ILF. “The effective closing off of future applications will create significant budget pressure on the council. Based on previous years this equates to more than £700,000 per annum.”

Currently, recipients include people such as Cathy Paterson, who lives in Ruchill, Glasgow. The 75-year-old widow, who looks after her 55-year-old son Thomas, said he had been receiving ILF to help him lead a more active life since his father died.

The money enables him to pay helpers so he can take part in activities such as going to the cinema or bowling, and means his mother, who has health problems herself, gets a break.

Existing claimants will continue to receive funds, but Paterson fears for other families. “Without ILF, I would be lost,” she said. “As well as giving him a life it has given me one.”

She said the new criteria made no sense. “If someone is able to work 16 hours a week, obviously they can get out and about themselves. Anyway, there are thousands of people who can’t get jobs. I find it difficult to understand.”

David Crawford said: “The ILF makes a vital contribution.

“Existing service users look to be protected, but there is no doubt these changes will compromise our ability to support individuals with complex needs to live in the community.

“Not surprisingly these changes are causing great anxiety for service users and carers. They are worried about what comes next. We will be writing to ILF to express our concerns.”

Ian Hood, co-ordinator of the Learning Disability Alliance Scotland, said, “Many people with profound disabilities from around Scotland, and in particular from Glasgow, depend on the ILF to live meaningful lives.

“The ILF proposals will exclude the next generation of young people from much needed support.

“We think these new proposal have been poorly thought out and the ILF board of trustees should be looking at how to sort out this mess.”

A DWP spokesman said: “Changes were made to the ILF budget by the previous government. To ensure they stay within budget the ILF have had to prioritise existing users.”