​Scottish Independent Living Fund will replace existing UK version.

Thousands of disabled people in Scotland will continue to be financially supported to live independent lives despite the closure of the UK Independent Living Fund (ILF).

The UK government fund will cease to exist on 30 June 2015 but the Scottish Government has announced its own fund, the Scottish Independent Living Fund, will take over on 1 June 2015.

The fund, which provides day-to-day practical support that enables disabled people to live at home and participate in work, training and education, will be available to people via local authority social services.

The Scottish system will be run nationally with disabled people at the heart of its decision making

Nicola Sturgeon

As well as safeguarding support currently given to more than 3,000 disabled people, the Scottish Independent Living Fund (SILF) will also open to new users – something that hasn’t been available with the ILF since 2010.

This is possible through a fresh £5.5 million investment into the fund on top of the yet undecided amount that will be transferred from the UK Government to conver existing commitments.

The ILF is currently used by disabled people to cover the costs of employing personal assistants or using a care agency to provide personal care such as dressing and help with domestic duties such as cleaning and cooking.

Deputy first minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was important investment was made to reopen the fund to new users to give everyone the same freedom, choice and dignity to live independent lives.

“Last year we met with disability groups who asked that a Scottish Independent Living Fund be re-opened to new users, while protecting the packages of existing users,” she said.

“The Scottish system will be run nationally with disabled people at the heart of its decision making.”