Response to High Court ruling on Independent Living Fund

Responding to the High Court ruling that the Government's consultation on the Independent Living Fund was lawful, Richard Hawkes, Chief Executive of disability charity Scope, said:

“This will come as a huge disappointment to the 20,000 disabled people who will lose support for the basics in life when the Independent Living Fund closes.

“The fact is that local care and support for disabled people is already underfunded to the tune of £1.2 billion and councils are already struggling to cope.

“The High Court Judge even acknowledged that funding concerns for ILF users in the future remain unsolved.

“The Government presumes that the shortfall in this care and support will be met by councils but this just isn’t the case.

"Expecting councils to pick up the tab when they are facing the biggest funding cuts in history is an impossible ask.

“Not only will disabled people will lose out but councils are likely to see more disabled people disputing funding decisions about care as they increasingly struggle to manage their limited resources.

“The Government needs to invest more in social care to prevent disabled people being condemned to a life without basic dignity and invisible from society.”