Independent Living Fund Recipients

Mark Tami Excerpts

Wednesday 18th June 2014 Westminster Hall

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

The independent living fund has transformed people’s lives. The ILF does exactly what it says on the tin: it liberates people who would otherwise not be able to live independently. It lets them make choices about how they live, things we often take for granted—when to get up or go to bed, what and when to eat. It allows them to work, to be active in the community and to live in their own homes. I challenge the Minister to guarantee to those in receipt of ILF that they will not become less independent as a result of his Government’s decision to close the fund in June 2015. That is what people fear; that is what they are frightened of—they fear losing their jobs, the staff whom they employ to support them and their independence. They fear being forced out of their homes and into institutions.

[Mark Tami (Alyn and Deeside) (Lab)]

As my hon. Friend might be aware, in Wales the responsibility will go to the Assembly and then to local authorities. I have approached my authority, and it is uncertain what exactly is happening. There is a lot of fear out there among people who are totally reliant on the ILF payment to lead as normal a life as possible. They are being hurt now.

[Nic Dakin]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. The Minister might well say that he is passing the moneys and the responsibility to local authorities—through the Welsh Assembly in Wales’s case—but that will not ease people’s fears.