Independent Living Fund to be shut down

A fund which supports more than 21,000 people with severe disabilities is to be phased out by 2015.



The £359 million Independent Living Fund pays out an average of £300 a week, to help people pay for caregivers so they can live at home.



Richard Hawkes, the chief executive of disability charity Scope, says the decision to phase out the fund was bemusing.



Lord Morris, who was the first minister for the disabled, says the move will not save money.



Instead he says it will make it harder for disabled people to live at home and will cost more because more of them will have to be in hospitals and other places for full-time care.