Sweden is one of the few countries which legally entitle persons with extensive disabilities to cash payments for the purchase of self-directed personal assistance services. The Act Concerning Support and Service to Persons with Certain Functional Impairments (LSS) of 1993 sets out rights for persons with considerable and permanent functional impairments to ten measures for special support and service which are to provide good living conditions. One of the measures constitutes the right to personal assistance as regulated by the Assistance Benefit Act (LASS). Personal assistance has been described as ‘a revolution’ and is considered the most important achievement of the disability reform. It enables eligible individuals to purchase personal assistance services from public and private entities, including for-profit companies, through a monthly sum from the National Social Insurance which covers 100 percent of the services’ costs. Amounts are independent of the individual’s or the family’s finances. The policy has created a demand-driven market for personal assistance where providers compete for customers on the basis of service quality.
Internet: www.disability-europe.net // www.independentliving.org
Ingrid commented on 05.03.2012:
U.K.: An establishment of the right to independent living needs to be immediately assessed, says Human Rights Committee
On February 29 the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) published its Report on the implementation of the right of disabled people to independent living in the context of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) which was ratified by the UK in 2009. The Report draws attention to a number of significant human rights issues, including the need for freestanding legislation to protect the right to independent living in UK law.
The right to independent living does not exist as a freestanding right in UK law. Although it is protected and promoted to some extent by a matrix of rights, the Committee believes that this is not enough. It argues that the Government and other interested parties should immediately assess the need for, and feasibility of, legislation to establish independent living as a freestanding right.
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/joint-select/human-rights-committee/news/publication-of-report-on-the-implementation-of-the-right-of-disabled-people-to-independent-living/