Warning of 'turmoil' if disabled grant reinstated

It is "difficult to see" how a grant for disabled people could be reinstated without creating "turmoil", Wales' social care minister has said. Former recipients of the Welsh Independent Living Grant (WILG) are being moved on to council-run support. Huw Irranca-Davies suggested "unpicking" changes would create problems for those on the new system.

New Welsh Labour leader Mark Drakeford has said he may reverse the changes if people are losing out. His comments followed research by the BBC's Wales Live programme which found that about 100 of the 600 recipients who had been reassessed had care packages cut.

The WILG was paid to about 1,300 people in Wales who used to receive the UK-wide Independent Living Fund (ILF). The Welsh Government is now transferring the funding and responsibility to local councils and has been criticised for not maintaining a Wales-wide fund.

In a letter to the assembly's petitions committee, Huw Irranca-Davies said the change removes a "two-tier arrangement" and ensures all disabled people have "equality of access" to support to live independently. He added that most people going through the transition were now receiving support from their local authority. "It is difficult to see how this could now be unpicked to reinstate the WILG... without creating turmoil for those who have been through this transition," he said.

In his letter, written before the close of the Welsh Labour leadership election, Mr Irranca-Davies said that at the end of September 2018:

• 717 of the 1,336 former WILG recipients had agreed their new support package with their local authority
• 531 of the 717 were receiving support "of a similar level and nature" to before
• In about 100 cases support had increased
• About 86 people had had their support reduced "as it was thought more appropriate in those people's circumstances if the support they required was provided in a different manner than previously (such as support provided from a third party)"
• 17 people were challenging the outcome of their support reviews.

In response to the letter, Save WILG campaigner Nathan Lee Davies has also written to the committee. He said: "It is not and never has been an excuse not to do something because it is 'difficult to unpick'. "It would only create 'turmoil' if the Welsh Government handled it badly. It does not inspire confidence to witness such a lack of self-belief by our elected representatives."