The Scottish Government

Disability

Joseph Rowntree Foundation

• The Costs of Independent Living (1999) Important developments, such as direct payments and the move away from rigid use of in-house local authority services, have widened the options for many severely disabled people, but there are growing tensions between raised expectations and ever tightening constraints on expenditure.
• Disability Benefits (1998) Disability benefits are one of the areas on which the Government is focusing its root and branch review of social security policy.
• The Cost of Childhood Disability (1998) A study of the financial costs of bringing up a child with a severe disability brought together groups of parents to establish the minimum essential costs.
• Direct Payments for People with Learning Difficulties (1997) The Community Care (Direct Payments) Act 1996 came into force on 1 April 1997. It empowers local authorities to make cash payments to people with disabilities, including learning difficulties, for the purchase of their community care arrangements. People with learning difficulties and their supporters are already recognising the potential benefits, but few preparations have yet been made.
• Debt & Disability (1995) Disabled people with problem debts regard the experience of living with debt as the most significant aspect of their lives according to a new study. Debt was usually the result of a combination of circumstances, often directly associated with disability but in the context of low income.