Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will commission an evaluation of the effectiveness of support for former Independent Living Fund recipients.

The Government has committed to conducting research on the impact of the Fund’s closure and has already identified a sample of former users who have agreed to participate.

The Government believes that local authorities are best placed to provide for the care needs of people in their local community. The Care Act 2014 introduced stringent minimum standards for this care and it is within this context that local authorities took over responsibility for the care and support of former Independent Living Fund users from 1st July 2015.

The Government has fully-funded local authorities to meet their additional obligations to service users previously in receipt of the Independent Living Fund for the remainder of the 2015/16 financial year and there will continue to be a separate grant to support them for 2016-17. Under proposals currently being consulted on, the Government will also enable local authorities to continue to fully fund the care packages of former Independent Living Fund users for the remainder of the parliament.