Disabled People: Independent Living Fund

Lord Bates Excerpts

Monday 31st March 2014 Grand Committee

[Lord Bates (Con)]

My Lords, first, like all noble Lords in this debate, I pay tribute to the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell of Surbiton. My noble friend Lord Cormack was absolutely right in his tribute to her as a shining example in this place, and he gave me the injunction to listen to her with care and respect. That is absolutely what we will do in the way in which we are responding to the debate, and in seeking to provide the assurances that are being sought.

We have heard about the valuable role that the Independent Living Fund has played and continues to play in enabling severely disabled people to live independently. The noble Baroness, Lady Campbell, talked from her personal experience, and the noble Baroness, Lady Grey-Thompson, referred to the feedback that she had received from people who had written to her. The reality is that the Independent Living Fund had been a significant success. The noble Lord, Lord Low, referred to the popularity of the fund when it was instituted in 1988. Over the past 26 years, the number of people whom it has helped has gone up from 300 to 20,000 at its peak, and now down to around 18,000. These changes mean that the features that have contributed to the ILF’s success are now, or very soon will be, available within the mainstream system across the UK. It is also the case that the ILF has always benefitted from the relatively small proportion of the severely disabled people who use the mainstream adult social care system, numbering about 1.3 million. Indeed, that broad care for disability is something that the noble Lord, Lord Kirkwood, referred to as coming from an enlightened Administration in the shape of the much missed Lord Newton. I served in that department as a PPS—although, I have to say in these times, not in a nefarious way at all—in supporting Nicholas Scott as he was taking forward that excellent piece of legislation, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which was really a sea change in the way that disabled people were treated and respected in our society.

On 6 March the Government announced the closure of the ILF on 30 June 2015. Funding will transfer to the English local authorities and the devolved Administrations. Local authorities in England will take direct responsibility for meeting the eligible care and support needs of ILF users. The devolved Administrations can decide how they wish to support ILF users in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Significant points have been raised and we want to look at them very carefully. In relation to the reference group, which the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell, referred to, the ILF is committed to working in partnership with local authorities to ensure a smooth transition for users. The transitional arrangements now being implemented were developed from an extensive engagement between the ILF and a wide range of stakeholders, including local authorities across the UK, charities and other organisations representing disabled people, and ILF users themselves, 2,000 of whom responded to the consultation. Therefore, we feel that the consultation has been carried out and we do not think that such a group is necessary at this time.

The subject of visits was raised by the noble Lord, Lord McAvoy. Before June 2015 each user will be visited by the ILF, accompanied wherever possible by a local authority social care worker. These visits are designed to review the individual’s current support package to ensure a joint understanding of the outcomes being secured and to address concerns about transition. Once the programme of visits is complete, the ILF will contact local authorities to ensure that they have all the necessary information about every individual user in their area.

A number of noble Lords, particularly the noble Baroness, Lady Wilkins, mentioned the court case. Because of that uncertainty, a programme of visits to each and every one of the 18,000 people who are going to be affected had to be halted for a time as the closure of the fund was quashed. That has now restarted. There is no doubt that the level of anxiety understandably felt by those people who do not have a support plan begins to reduce once a plan is in place. We believe that that trend will continue as we move forward.

In terms of the essential nature of how we interact with the local authorities, a code of practice is now in place between the local authorities and the ILF. It has been drawn up with the Local Government Association. One of the reasons why—in fact, probably the reason why—we are now contemplating removing, in the words of the noble Lord, Lord Low, this anomaly and trying to bring it into the mainstream is that the quality of care provided at a local level by local authorities, on all the evidence I have seen, has risen dramatically over the past 25 years, to a point where that can be now considered. I will come on to the central part of that, which is the Care Bill. But there is that code of practice, which sets out the criteria for those visits to be undertaken with support and, crucially, that it is the duty of the local authority to ensure that the support plan is in consultation with a current member of the Independent Living Fund. If they are not satisfied with that, then it is also the duty of the local authority to signpost them in the direction of where they can receive advocacy and support in order to address their concerns and make sure that they actually get the help that they need, delivered in a seamless way.

I acknowledge the depth of concern shared by many users about how this decision could affect them. Some are concerned that they will not qualify for local authority support or that reductions to their care packages will mean that they cannot secure the independent living outcomes that they now achieve. This was a point raised by several noble Lords. It is right to address some of these issues in more detail. Local authorities already have a statutory duty to fund eligible care needs. The Care Bill will introduce a new national minimum-eligibility threshold for England in order to receive support from the Independent Living Fund. The two are very much part of the package.

The majority of current users, around 15,200, must have local authority funding of at least £340 a week. It is reasonable to assume that this group have support needs that mean that they will qualify for support from their local authority. In fact, that point, which my noble friend Lord Cormack raised, about having the minimum guarantee, I think is contained in that minimum eligibility and also in the code of practice. It is also right that the Government consider the position of all disabled people. The noble Lord, Lord Low, referred to the point about the slightly anomalous position about disabled people deciding about the Independent Living Fund—rather, the position of all disabled people when deciding how best to distribute the available resources—but does not believe that continuing with the current two-tier system is the right approach. It is becoming increasingly difficult to justify the present arrangements.

On the position for those who applied to the ILF before 1993, the noble Lord, Lord McAvoy, referred to group 1 and group 2 cohorts who are treated slightly differently. The position of those in group 1, ILF before 1993, some 2,800, is less straightforward. Some of this group may well have needs that fall below the new minimum threshold and will not therefore qualify for local authority support. Most of them, however, do have some local authority support, with almost 27% getting more than £600 a week. This suggests that many will be eligible for local authority support once the ILF closes. The noble Baroness, Campbell, and others mentioned the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We do believe that it is compliant with this and are taking great care and careful note of this. The noble Baroness also questioned why a spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions was responding to the debate rather than the Minister for Health and Social Services. Of course, for historical reasons, the Minister for Disabled People—we talked about the late Sir Nicholas Scott—has always resided within the Department for Work and Pensions. He has, however, a collective role in co-ordinating all responses across Government for and in the interests of disabled people.

Legislation coming into force from April 2015 aims at promoting greater independence and will increase choice and control for disabled people. The Care Bill represents the most significant reform of social care in England in more than 60 years. Local authorities will be required to take individual well-being into account when making decisions about care and support, including the outcomes we want to achieve. The Bill will give users of the social-care system the right to a personal budget, which so many members stress as being critical and instrumental in giving a sense of independence and dignity to disabled people. Broadly similar legislation has come into force in Scotland, and will come into force in Wales in 2015.

I want to respond to the comments made by the noble Baronesses, Lady Hollins and Lady Wilkins, and others about funding. Social care expenditure has not fallen by 20%—£2.7 billion—since 2010-11; £2.7 billion represents the savings that councils have had to make to meet demand. Spending has been roughly flat in cash terms over the period, and the latest survey shows that councils are expecting a small increase in expenditure over the next year.

The noble Baroness, Lady Wilkins, asked about statutory guidance, as did the noble Baroness, Lady Campbell. The Government’s position on how local authorities manage their finances is clear: they should have the freedom to meet their statutory responsibilities flexibly and responsively in line with local priorities. I hear the point made about a postcode lottery. It is a phrase which rolls off the tongue, but I am sure that the noble Baroness, who knows these areas very well, would acknowledge that there are wide differences in the take-up of the Independent Living Fund between local authorities. For example, wide differences in take-up have always existed between England and Scotland. We believe that through establishing the code of conduct, through having those personal support plans and, most crucially, through instigating the minimum-eligibility criteria that the Care Bill upholds, these dangers will be minimised.

The noble Baroness, Lady Hollins, asked about monitoring and evaluation. We said in the equality analysis which took place following the court decision that we are committed to monitoring the impact of all policies relating to this area. I give a personal undertaking to relay to my colleagues at the Department for Work and Pensions the concerns raised by noble Members of this Committee today to ensure that we have the right monitoring system in place and that those who need this vital help continue to receive it.

Committee adjourned at 6.36 pm.