ILF

ILF is now only allowing recipients to hold up 4 weeks payments of ILF funding. So, once your bills, tax, insurance etc have been taken into account any surplus must be returned to the ILF.

Aside from statutory payments, according to the ILF, we’re not allowed to accrue more than the four week amount. In other words if, for instance, my full-time PA goes off sick for two or three weeks and I’m forced to use agency care I’d probably not have enough money in my contingency fund to cover the ILF portion of the bill.

Despite three fairly lengthy conversations with ILF staff; I’m getting exactly the same response. Any monies over and above normal outgoings (wages, tax and insurance) and four weeks ILF payments must be returned to the centre.

ILF are also suggesting that we hold their payments in separate accounts to any other DPs. ILF also pay at a lower rate than LAs. Following advice I raised the ILF rates to those of the LA when the pay last pay rise took place in April 2009 – the contingency I’d accrued enabled me to do so.

Therefore, I’m subsidising the ILF portion of my care package. The situation I could find myself in now is one where I have to go back to my PAs and inform them they’re looking at a cut in their hourly rates by x and y respectively – standard and enhanced hourly rates.

While I cannot pay my PAs at different rates to one another for doing a job of equal value; it seems I may have to pay them a LA rate for part of a shift and an ILF rate for another part of the same shift; doing this at a flat rate and an enhanced rate.

On bank accounts, it looks as though in order to separate the different streams of money two accounts will need to be set up. This is despite being advised from the outset, by both the LA and ILF, that lodging both pots of money in the one account was not only acceptable practice, but probably easier to manage than having separate accounts.

Currently I pay two PAs; one full time; while the other works weekends. Two sets of time sheets are produced; and, I pay out two sets of wages on a four-weekly basis. If I’m forced to toe the ILF line it will mean I have two bank accounts from which I pay two employees four different rates of pay – LA flat rate; LA overtime rate; ILF (lower) flat rate; ILF (lower) overtime rate.

Up until now I have, quite happily, dealt with wages, tax and insurance deductions, holiday pay, etc. If I’m compelled to change the, in my view reasonable, way in which I’m being asked to handle ILF affairs, then I’m in danger of losing my independence over the whole DPs system of care provision.