The government has announced which sources of funding will be included in pilot projects that aim to give disabled people more choice and control over their state support.
Jonathan Shaw, the minister for disabled people, said the new right to control (RTC) scheme could have an impact on “every area of disabled people’s lives”.
RTC will put money from different funding streams into single pots of money for disabled people to use as they wish, and is due to be tested in “around” eight English local authorities from late 2010.
Following pressure from campaigners such as Baroness [Jane] Campbell and the charity RADAR, and strong views expressed by disabled people in a public consultation on RTC, the government has decided to include adult community care services as one of the funding streams.
But the government has decided not to include disabled student’s allowance, although this could be added later, and it will not include benefits such as disability living allowance, attendance allowance and employment and support allowance.
The other funding streams that will be included in the RTC pots will be: access to work; work choice, the new specialist disability employment programme; independent living funds; supporting people housing support; and disabled facilities grants.
Those disabled people taking part in the RTC pilots will have a legal right to be told how much support they are eligible for, and will then be able to choose and control how they receive and use this support.
Disabled people made it clear in the consultation that they and their organisations should be closely involved in implementing RTC.
And they said there must be “clear, consistent and accessible information” for disabled people in the RTC areas, as well as “joined-up support”.
The government said applications from councils keen to take part in the RTC pilots would be judged partly on their plans for providing information, advice, support and advocacy.
10 December 2009
