Council faces £2.5m care bill after government fund axed

THE council will have to pick up a £2.5 million annual tab left by the government following changes to funding for people with learning disabilities, it has emerged.

The local authority said the axing of the UK-wide Independent Living Fund will leave it with "future budget pressures", admitting that the situation is "serious".

And with the number of people living with learning disabilities increasing, it means the health and social care department will need to find tens of millions of pounds over the next decade.

The Westminster government fund was closed to new claimants in June 2010 as part of financial cutbacks.

It was designed to help people with conditions such as autism who were preparing to leave school forge an independent life for themselves.

Thanks to medical advances and improved social care, youngsters with a learning disability can expect to not only live longer, but enjoy a vastly improved quality of life than they would have in decades past.

It is estimated that by 2015 there will be more than 200 school leavers in the Capital who need support.

Labour's group chairwoman in Edinburgh Councillor Lesley Hinds, who initially raised concerns about the cost of the change, said the council would struggle to absorb the cost.

"These things are done at government level to save money but the cost just gets passed on the local authorities," she said.

"The issue of benefits often gets discussed but these are some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

"Health and social care is given a generous budget, but it's needed when you consider the demographic of people living longer and requiring more care in old age.

"We are trying to make sure that when people with learning disabilities leave school they have care packages, and that's what this fund helped pay for."

Ministers in London last year blamed the "uncertainty and sensitivity of financial forecasting assumptions" for the closure of the fund, but stated it would continue to support those already in the system.

A council spokesman said: "The closure of the Independent Living Fund (ILF] to new cases removes funding for care and support for disabled people with complex and high levels of need in Edinburgh and across Scotland and the UK.

"The loss of ILF funding on this scale has serious implications for the level of services that the council can afford and the problem is being raised nationally so that it can be taken into account in UK, Scottish and local decisions about the future funding of social care services."