The Independent Living Fund (ILF) Scotland invites Expressions of Interest (EoI) from Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) to participate in a small fully funded pilot to test a DPO‑supported application route to the re‑opened Independent Living Fund (ILF) in Scotland.
We welcome Expressions of Interest from organisations enthusiastic about testing a principled, DPO‑supported route to making ILF funding more accessible and targeted.
We look forward to working with DPO partners to refine the model and increase timely access to the fund for Scotland’s most disabled citizens.
Yours sincerely,
Peter Scott OBE, Chief Executive, ILF Scotland
ILF Scotland is a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) and Company Limited by Guarantee, wholly owned by Scottish Ministers. It was established in 2015 in response to the closure of ILF UK in June 2015 and continued to maintain the existing recipient fund in Scotland and Northern Ireland from July 2015, though it remained closed to new applications.
The Scottish Government agreed to re-open the fund to new applicants in Scotland in April 2024 to support more of Scotland’s most disabled citizens to achieve independent living outcomes. Uptake to date has been good but there are some areas where progress is slower than anticipated, influenced in part by local authority capacity in presenting applications.
The re-opening of the ILF was developed through a process of co-production involving the following organisations:
The Co-Production Working Group, which continues to meet, is co-chaired by ILF Scotland and Scottish Government.
To access the fund, applicants must:
The Co-Production Working Group recognised that there were necessary compromises to secure the early re-opening of the fund. It therefore set development priorities for the first 12 to 18 months post re-opening:
The Group has suggested that in addition to or in place of a citizen led application route, which has technical and implementation challenges, we could develop a route where applications are led by disabled people but supported and submitted by Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) including Centres for Independent Living (CILs).
This option is more readily and technically feasible and could be implemented more quickly than the citizen led option. Advantages of the DPO led application option include the potential to:
The capacity of DPOs to deliver is a significant challenge. Therefore, we would suggest a fully funded pilot with one or two DPOs. A DPO is defined as an organisation where at least 51% of the governing body are either disabled people or / and people who are eligible for social care support (Self Directed Support Scotland).
One or two DPOs are selected to run a pilot scheme to identify appropriate disabled applicants and facilitate the application process on their behalf. The applicant would lead on identifying what additional independent living outcomes were important to them and the DPO would complete and submit the application.
Prior to the pilot starting, a Memorandum of Understanding / Service Level Agreement will be established between the DPO and ILF Scotland. A data sharing agreement will then be set up between the DPO and ILF Scotland, and the DPO will be given access to the ILF Scotland application portal, currently only available to Local Authority Social Work teams. Systems development work will be required to update the IT infrastructure for this purpose. The DPO will then submit applications via the portal to ILF Scotland who will then verify the access requirements with the local authority. For these applications only, the local authority’s role will change from leading applications, to verifying applications, which should reduce the processing demands on them.
Social Work plays a critical role in existing ILF awards. The majority of recipients have a tripartite agreement in place between the recipient, ILF Scotland and Social Work. The assurances that this arrangement provides will continue to be crucial in a DPO supported application model. These reassurances include:
The proposal is to fund the DPO to employ a dedicated Independent Living Support Officer (or equivalent job title) who will take responsibility for identifying suitable applicants and completing their applications via the ILF portal. Training in use of the portal and in ILF policies, along with on-going support as required, will be provided by ILF Scotland. The successful post holder will be required to liaise with local authority social work teams. We would estimate that the Support Officer could complete around 100 applications per year.
The secondment of a current ILF Scotland Assessor to a DPO can be considered.
Although the proposal is focused around identifying those most in need and supporting their applications, there will be additional benefit in DPOs supporting disabled people at the initial stages of receiving ILF funding, for example, connecting individuals with peer support to be an employer or contractor of a Care Provider. It could also help to foster closer working relationships between DPOs and public sectors organisations, beyond ILF Scotland.
ILF Scotland (ILF) re-opened to new applications in April 2024 to support people with the most complex needs to apply for additional funding to achieve independent living outcomes important to them.
Currently, applications can only be led and submitted by Local Authority (LA) Social Work departments.
A Co‑Production Working Group was established prior to re-opening, to make recommendations on the policy framework for the re-opened fund. The group has recommended a pilot to test a DPO‑supported application route to increase applications and improve the reach to people facing the greatest barriers to independent living in different parts of Scotland.
The pilot would fund one DPO (or possibly a shared post between two DPOs) to employ a dedicated Independent Living Support Officer to identify eligible applicants, complete and submit applications via the ILF portal, and work with Local Authorities to verify key information and safeguards.
Note that ILF Scotland is open to the secondment of an ILF Scotland Assessor to a DPO for the duration of this pilot.
The duration of the pilot will be for 12 months starting in January 2026.
Responders should consider their:
Deadline for EoI Response:
12 noon, Monday 8 December 2025
Interested organisations will be invited to an online discussion with ILF Scotland and Scottish Government representatives:
Week commencing 15 December 2025
Target start for pilot activity:
Early January 2026
Preparation and implementation
0 to 3 months (subject to technical and legal set up)
All information provided will be used for analysis and research purposes. Responses may be shared with ILF Scotland staff and Scottish Government representatives to allow the pilot to be developed. Subject to the provisions in relation to Freedom of Information, they will not be shared more widely.
No information provided in response to this EoI will be used to form judgements regarding supplier performance, capacity or capability under any current or future procurement process. No supplier will be disadvantaged by not submitting a response to this EoI or by submitting a partial response.
Nothing in this document shall be taken as constituting or indicating a contract or representation with or by the Independent Living Fund Scotland (ILF). By issuing this EoI, ILF does not make any commitment to procure any of the stated services. Furthermore, receipt of this EoI should not be construed as authorisation to incur any costs for which reimbursement could be sought.
Freedom of Information: The Independent Living Fund Scotland may disclose information in compliance with the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (the Act). Accordingly, if you consider that any of the information provided in your response is commercially confidential, please identify it and explain what harm might result from disclosure and / or publication. It should be noted that, even where you have indicated that information is commercially confidential, Education Scotland may disclose this information in accordance with the provision of the Act or any other legal duty.
For questions or to submit your EoI, contact: Linda Scott, Director of Policy, Improvement and Engagement, ILF Scotland, by email at linda.scott@ilf.scot or by phone on 07910 806 694.
