Following closure of the UK Independent Living Fund (ILF) on 30 June 2015, the SNP Government has established a new organisation, Independent Living Fund Scotland (ILF Scotland), to administer ILF for existing recipients of the fund in Scotland.
ILF Scotland operates as a discretionary fund, providing financial awards totalling £47.2 million last year to 2,591 disabled people to help them live independently.
By contrast, local authorities in England are now responsible for care provision and all assessments, rather than the ILF. According to Disability Rights UK, over 120 English councils have simply absorbed the money from the ILF into their hard-pressed social care budgets, leaving vulnerable disabled residents who previously benefited from the fund housebound.
Scottish young people aged between 16 and 21 may also now benefit from the new ILF Transition Fund, which provides money for up to one year to support young people living with disabilities to improve their lives. This includes autism, learning difficulty, physical disability, mental health or hearing or visual impairments.
The purpose of the ILF Transition Fund is to help young people transition after leaving school or children’s services to be more independent and continue spending time with other people. Grants of up to £7,500 can be used for art or music lessons, a device or piece of technology to help with your impairment, join a class or club, pay for driving lessons and training courses.
Applications for the Transition Fund may be submitted online or by post. For more information, applicants can call 0300 200 2022 or write to:
ILF Scotland
Denholm House
Almondvale Business Park
Almondvale Way
Livingston
EH54 6GA
For more information, please visit: http://ilf.scot/.
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