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Helping the debate to shape the future of care

The Independent Living Fund (ILF) is giving thousands of disabled people the choice to make a huge collective contribution towards two transformational Government initiatives.

The ILF will hold a series of eight events, bringing together the Government’s Right to Control and Shaping the Future of Care consultations. The consultation events will be held in Nottingham, London, Chester, Bristol, Birmingham, Southampton and Newcastle during August and September and will also be supported by postal and web based questionnaires in order to gather users views.

Announcing ILF’s plans, Patrick Boyle, Chief Executive said, “We have proven our ability to successfully engage and co-produce with disabled people. To support these Government initiatives we are offering a platform to the 15,000 disabled people we support in England to make their voices heard on issues that directly affect them.”

The Office for Disability Issues launched the Right to Control consultation, ‘Making choice and control a reality for disabled people’, in June 2009. The ILF will be one of the funding streams that will take part in the Right to Control trailblazers due to commence in October 2010. The consultation period running until 30 September will assist Government to best structure the trailblazers, and ILF will ask its users a series of questions relevant to them and the role ILF play.

The Department of Health led Care, Support and Independence consultation on the Green Paper, ‘Shaping the future of social care together’, was launched on 14 July 2009. The ILF will ask its users for their opinions on three big proposals on a National Care Service presented in the Green Paper.

ENDS

Notes to editors

For more information contact David Smith, Head of Communications, on 0115 9450730 or 07779 083493.

1   Future announcements and details on the ILF consultations, including how people can get involved will be made on the Government consultations section of the ILF website – www.ilf.org.uk

2   The Right to Control is about disabled people having control over the support they need to go about their daily lives. Disabled people who are eligible for support will be told how much money is available to spend on that support. They will be able to decide how the money is spent, by saying what service they want and/or being given money to buy the support themselves. They will have the choice to have as much, or as little, direct control over the money as they are comfortable with. It will be up to each individual to decide what is right for them. You can find out more about the Right to Control at:
www.odi.gov.uk/right-to-control

3   On 14 July the Government launched the Green Paper, Shaping the Future of Care Together, which suggests ways we can improve the care and support system in England, both in the way it is delivered and funded. We want to create a system for the future that is fairer, simple to understand and more affordable for everyone.

There will now be a period of public consultation until the 13th November. A series of local events will be run across the country, where the issues raised in the Green Paper will be discussed in detail. More information about the events can be found at:
www.coievents.co.uk/careandsupport.

4   The Independent Living Fund (ILF) is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body of the Department for Work and Pensions. It awards payments to severely disabled people to support the cost of their personal care and/or domestic assistance. To get payments from the ILF you have to meet certain conditions.

5   The ILF provides financial assistance under the terms of a single publicly financed discretionary Trust Deed – The Independent Living Fund (2006), governed by a Board of nine Trustees.

6   The ILF currently provides financial support to over 21,000 disabled people in the UK allowing them opportunities to be fully included in their communities.

7   The budget allocated to the ILF for the financial years 09/10 and 10/11 for Great Britain are £340m and £356m respectively. The allocated budgets for Northern Ireland in 09/10 and 10/11 are £10.7m and £11.2m respectively.