Anne has cerebral palsy and employs personal assistants to help with everything from getting up, to eating, to going out and going to the toilet. At the moment, half is paid by the Independent Living Fund, the rest by the local authority. Now the Fund has been closed and she doesn’t know what lies ahead. “It’s like the sword of Damocles hanging over me,” she says. “If the local authority won’t take over the funding, the only option is being put into an old people’s home. I’ve lived in this house for 47 years and didn’t expect to have to campaign to stay in my own home at my age.” When she asked the local authority about what provision they would be making, they talked about other ways of providing care which isn’t ‘hands on’. “I believe,” says Anne, “they are probably referring to things like people having to use incontinence pads.”