Should financial control of the Independent Living Fund be controlled by local authorities or individuals?

On June 30th 2015, the government will cease to provide the Independent Living Fund (ILF), a benefits scheme which, since 1988, has provided up to 46,000 disabled individuals with financial aid to support their living independently within their local communities. The equally enraged and concerned disabled community have forged together in solidarity to vocalise their objections to the implications of cutting the up to £320m aid that is “vital for the lives of disabled people”.

Public objection to local authority control

Growth of outrage was brought to wider public knowledge ,with up to 30 protestors rallying up attention and support from the public outside the House of Commons. The group, called Disabled People against Cuts, protested to raise awareness to the fact that the funds and responsibility for funding is to be transferred to local authorities and taken out of the control of the individual.

According to research carried out by the Stannah Silver Census, 42% of surveyed individuals claim that political parties current policies don’t reflect their needs. Lead protestor, John Kelly of Disabled People against Cuts said:

“We know they are transferring funds to local authorities, who we know are cutting back and struggling with all sorts of things under hard circumstances. Let’s be clear about this, this is not about care. This is about our right to independent living, a right to quality of life which is about control and choice. It’s enabled me to live in my home independently for the last 20 years, it’s enabled me to work, and it’s enabled me to sing in front of 80,000 at the Paralympic Games”

Government perspective

A spokesperson on behalf of the government provided the following statement:

“We are bringing support for independent living fund clients into a single care support system managed by local authorities. This will allow decisions to be made locally by democratically-elected councillors, enabling a more efficient, integrated and personalised service for everyone needing support. Prior to closure, the Independent Living Fund Trust has provided every local authority in England with up-to-date detailed schedules showing the allocated funding for each individual, so that they have accurate information about the level of support provided to each user.”

While the government remains vigilant in reassuring the public that the budget is merely being transferred as all care and support should be “within a single care and support system”, it raises the question:

Is the local authorities better equipped to handle these funds or the individual?

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