The Independent Living Fund (Hansard, 18 April 1990)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Social Security (Lord Henley)
My Lords., my right honourable friend the Minister of State for Social Security and the Disabled announced on 3rd April that, provided he could reach agreement with the fund's trustees on a sensible limiting of the scope of the fund, a further £8 million would be made available for the current year. This would bring the provision to £32 million for 1990-91, an increase of a third in the current year's allocation and a more than sixfold increase in the resources originally envisaged for the fund. My right honourable friend has had a preliminary discussion with the trustees following this announcement and is now awaiting their considered response.

§ Baroness Fisher of Rednal
My Lords, I apologise to the House. On the Order Paper my Question should refer to the "Independent Living Fund" and not "Independent Living Foundation". I thank the noble Lord for that Answer. But does he agree that the Government's original estimate of the number of people who would claim from the fund was too low? Am I correct in thinking that the extra amount will mean that the fund will not be suspended, that fresh awards will be possible and that those already receiving help will not be denied it in the future? How long does he think the trustees will need before 2 they can let the Government know whether they are satisfied with the amount? They might not want to serve as trustees if they cannot get enough money to satisfy a group of people who are the most vulnerable in society.

§ Lord Henley
My Lords, I can assure the noble Baroness that existing beneficiaries will continue to receive care. All the trustees have said is that they will have to suspend consideration of new applications as from 9th April. Other than that I can only say that we are awaiting the response of the trustees. As regards the future of the fund, we made clear in our report on disability benefits, The Way Ahead, in January that wider arrangements for care in the community to take effect from April 1991 envisaged care packages devised by local authorities on an individual basis. We would therefore expect people seeking help after that date to be able to look to local authorities. But we recognise that authorities will need time to develop the detailed assessments and complex care packages that will be required. We would therefore not expect them to take on the entire caseload of the ILF in April 1991.

§ Lord Carter
My Lords, can the noble Lord spell out to the House exactly how the Independent Living Fund is supposed to limit the scope of its awards? Can he say which groups of severely disabled people will lose out as a result of this decision?

§ Lord Henley
My Lords, I do not think that I can spell out exactly how the trustees can limit the scope of the fund. As I said, we are awaiting their response. As the noble Lord will know, the fund was originally set up partly in recognition of the fact that with our 1988 reforms some severely disabled people would no longer be able to claim the additional requirements payments for domestic support. The fund has never been envisaged as being the only source of income for those who are disabled and might make use of it. There are a range of benefits available within the social security system as well as help from local authorities and health authorities.

§ Baroness Fisher of Rednal
My Lords, the beneficiaries of the fund are the severely disabled.
3 Surely the Government do not want to be seen again as trying to deprive those worst off in the community. I should have thought that a caring government would have wanted to be much more generous than appears to be the case from the answers this afternoon.

§ Lord Henley
Yes, my Lords. That is why we originally set up the Independent Living Fund and that is why we have expanded the amount of money available to it over the past three years. In the current year it will be something in the order of £24 million. That is why we have offered an extra £8 million to the fund if it can find some way of limiting the scope. The fund was expanding beyond those who were originally covered by the eligibility criteria.

§ Lord Taylor of Blackburn
My Lords, is it not a fact that the Government originally underestimated the number of people who would be claiming from the fund?

§ Lord Henley
My Lords, as we have had to increase the amount available from £5 million to £10 million and now to £24 million, that would appear to be the case.

§ Lord Carter
My Lords, does the noble Lord agree that the amount that the Government are making available is exactly half the amount that the trustees asked for in order for the fund to be able to continue?

§ Lord Henley
My Lords, we have made an offer of £8 million. That is in addition to £24 million available for this year, which was more than double what was available last year.