Fifteen years. A small group of Disabled people. Three groundbreaking victories. This is the story of what happened when ordinary people refused to accept discrimination.
How It Started
In 2006, a small group of Disabled people in Hammersmith & Fulham came together because they were angry. The council—which had promised not to charge for home care—was going back on its word. Disabled people would have to pay for the basic support others took for granted.
What they started that year became Hammersmith & Fulham Coalition Against Cuts. What they didn’t know was that this campaign would last 15 years, win victories no one else in England achieved, and inspire activists far beyond their borough.
This is their story. This is our story.
2006: A Non-Funded DPO Set Up
The Problem
Hammersmith & Fulham’s Conservative Council announced plans to start charging Disabled residents for essential support—“home care”—to live independently in the community. Their manifesto had promised they wouldn’t. Now they were breaking that promise.
The Response
Debbie Domb, Kevin Caulfield, Tara Flood, David Webb, Peter Gay, and others formed HAFCAC as a non-funded Disabled People’s Organisation. Not a charity. Not run by non-disabled “experts.” By Disabled people, for Disabled people.
They had no money, no office, no staff. What they had was lived experience, determination, and each other.
“We formed in 2006 as a non-funded DPO to challenge the then Conservative Council’s attempts to start charging Disabled residents for basic support to live independently in the community (when their manifesto on which they were elected said they would not).”
— HAFCAC History
The Long Campaign: 2007-2014
They didn’t know it would take nine years to win on charging. But they showed up, week after week, year after year.
2007-2008: Building Power From Nothing
They worked on petitions. They lobbied Council meetings—not just once, but every time there was a relevant decision. They campaigned on the streets, registering Disabled people to vote.
Debbie ran pub quizzes at the Goldhawk pub. It wasn’t glamorous activism—it was practical organising. Local shops donated prizes. Disabled and non-disabled people came together. Money went into the cash box. Debbie kept a keen eye on it. Every pound mattered when you had no funding.
“She was the practical person running our infamous HAFCAC pub quizzes at the Goldhawk pub, persuading local shops and residents to support us. She kept a keen eye on our finances in general and she knew exactly what went into the pub quiz cash box!”
— Debbie Domb Tribute
2009: Taking Them to Court
The council was moving ahead with charging. HAFCAC had to escalate. Working with the Public Law Project, they brought a legal challenge:
Domb v London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.
Debbie Domb’s name was on the case. So were two other Disabled residents. They were putting themselves on the line.
The appeal was denied. Legally, they’d lost. But the Lord Justice of Appeal’s words gave them ammunition:
The council “sacrifices free home care on the altar of a Council Tax reduction for which there was no legal requirement.”
— Lord Justice of Appeal, 2009
They’d lost the case but proven they were serious. The fight continued.
2010-2013: The Hardest Years
The coalition government’s austerity cuts hit. Disabled people across the UK faced devastating losses: Disability Living Allowance to be replaced, Incapacity Benefit scrapped, housing benefit capped, the Independent Living Fund marked for closure.
In Hammersmith & Fulham, the council proposed raising charging rates from £10.72 per hour to £12. Cutting £800,000 from eligibility criteria, restricting access to social care services even further.
HAFCAC’s 2011 New Year card wasn’t celebratory. It was a protest:
“So what is the government and our council doing to tackle isolation, inequality and poverty among disabled and older people? These cuts have nothing to do with fairness. They are reckless.”
— HAFCAC 2011 Press Release
It felt like swimming against the tide. But they kept swimming.
2014: Political Change
Labour took control of Hammersmith & Fulham Council. The years of voter registration, relationship-building, and proving HAFCAC was a serious political force paid off.
The new administration knew who HAFCAC was. They knew what HAFCAC wanted. They’d seen the persistence—nine years of it.
Something was about to break through.
2015: The Breakthrough Year
April 2015: Homecare Charging Abolished
Nine years after HAFCAC formed, Hammersmith & Fulham Council announced it would abolish ALL charging for community support services for Disabled people.
Not just “personal care.” All forms of community support. Disabled people would no longer pay for basic support to live independently.
H&F became—and remains—the only Local Authority in England not to charge.
“There are 1,231 people in Hammersmith and Fulham who need help with everyday tasks that others take for granted, such as having a bath or doing the shopping. That help is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. In a civilised society, I believe home care is something people shouldn’t have to pay for.”
— Council Leader Stephen Cowan, December 2014
They’d won.
June 2015: Independent Living Fund Protected
While they were celebrating the charging victory, another crisis hit. The government closed the Independent Living Fund on June 30, 2015. Nationally, 21,000 Disabled people with the highest support needs faced uncertainty.
HAFCAC had already been fighting this—Debbie had been at protests outside the DWP, where she was almost crushed by police. They’d lobbied the new Labour administration intensively.
It worked. The council committed to ring-fence ILF funding—guarantee it would only go to former ILF recipients, initially until 2020, then beyond.
No other Local Authority in England made this commitment.
Across the country, Disabled people lost support. In Hammersmith & Fulham, they kept it.
Debbie Domb: 1958 – 2018
A Fearless and Principled Freedom Fighter
In November 2018, HAFCAC lost Debbie Domb. She was 60 years old.
Debbie was a founding member of HAFCAC. Her name was on the legal case that challenged the council. She ran the pub quizzes that kept the campaign going. She lobbied councillors, organised on the streets, and stood in the cold at protests. She was almost crushed by police at a peaceful demonstration outside the DWP.
She gave her all—”giving much of her precious energy to get behind the campaign to end discriminatory home care charging.”
“In our eyes Debbie will always be a fearless and principled freedom fighter for Disabled people’s rights, both in Hammersmith & Fulham where she lived and also across the country.”
— HAFCAC
The Practical Organiser
While others strategised and spoke publicly, Debbie made sure things actually happened. She was “the practical person”—the one who organised events, persuaded local shops to donate, kept the finances straight, and made sure people felt welcome.
She employed her own Personal Assistants using a direct payment from the council. She lived what HAFCAC fought for—choice and control over her own life. She challenged “the second class citizenship often heaped on Disabled people.”
The legal case that bore her name—Domb v London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham—was “a clear message to the Council that enough is enough.”
Her Legacy
“Debbie is a legend to us in Hammersmith & Fulham. Many local Disabled residents who never knew her are much better off today, due in part to her efforts. We live in the only local authority in England that does not charge Disabled people for ‘home care’ support. Debbie and HAFCAC call it Independent Living.”
Disabled residents of Hammersmith & Fulham today don’t pay for basic support because of what Debbie fought for. Most of them never knew her name. That’s how it works when you win systemic change—the people who benefit may never know who fought for them.
But we know. And we remember.
“Debbie Domb was one of the people that played a pivotal role in setting Hammersmith & Fulham on a course to make our borough the most accessible community in the country for Disabled people and she pushed the national debate to a more enlightened position. Debbie was a quiet hero. She stepped up, made her case, fought for change and won. Because of that, thousands of people, who may never know her name, have had their lives made better.”
— Cllr Stephen Cowan, Council Leader
2016-2018: From Protest to Partnership
With two major victories won, HAFCAC asked: what next? Could they move beyond fighting individual battles to fundamentally changing how decisions were made?
2016: Nothing About Us Without Us
The council set up a Disabled People’s Commission—the first in the country. The Commission launched a survey: “Nothing About Us Without Us,” gathering experiences from local Disabled people about services and barriers.
Kevin Caulfield served as Policy Officer to the Commission. HAFCAC mobilised the community to complete the survey, ensuring Disabled voices would actually shape the recommendations.
June 2018: LBHF Commits to Co-Production
The Commission published its report. The council made a groundbreaking commitment: co-production would become the DEFAULT way of working in the borough.
Not consultation where they ask and ignore you. Not token representation. Actual shared decision-making—Disabled people equal to councillors and officers in designing policies and services.
Tara Flood, HAFCAC founding member, was appointed Chair of the Commission.
“This is an exciting opportunity for Disabled people across the borough to come together and be part of a radical change – a change that will begin to see a new way of doing things – services that are co-produced with Disabled people. Hammersmith & Fulham is a borough that wants to hear what we, as Disabled people, have got to say so I’m really looking forward to chairing the Commission and turning words into action!”
— Tara Flood
2019-2020: Going International, Building Capacity
October 2019: ENIL Freedom Drive
Kevin Caulfield and Tara Flood traveled to Brussels for the European Network for Independent Living Freedom Drive (you can access the report here). They gave a workshop to Disabled activists from across Europe about HAFCAC’s grassroots campaign and H&F’s co-production model.
What started as a small local campaign was now inspiring international organising.
Building the Next Generation
In October 2019, HAFCAC hired a development worker with the goal of developing the next wave of HAFCAC campaigners, building the DPO network stronger, and supporting more Disabled people to become activists.
The founding members knew they couldn’t do this forever. They wanted to pass it on.
2020: Direct Payment Support Service Restored
In early 2020, HAFCAC won one final victory. Action on Disability, the local DPO, was commissioned to set up and deliver the Direct Payment Support Service.
This service had been taken “in house” by the previous administration in 2012. Now it was back where it belonged — run by Disabled people, for Disabled people.
By us, for us. Full circle.
March 31, 2021: HAFCAC Closes
After 15 years of successful campaigning, HAFCAC made the difficult decision to close the organisation.
Covid-19 had taken a huge toll on every single contributor—the steering group, members, staff, and allies. Despite attempts to build new capacity, they were struggling to keep everything going.
They had achieved what they set out to do:
- Ended home care charging—only borough in England
- Protected Independent Living Fund support
- Established groundbreaking co-production model
- Restored DPO-run Direct Payment Support Service
- Inspired activists locally, nationally, and internationally
“We are very sad that HAFCAC is coming to an end but we hope our successes inspire more Disabled people to take action, campaign and work, where possible, with people who make decisions to end the wide ranging discrimination and exclusion our community experience every day of our lives.”
— HAFCAC, March 2021
HAFCAC closed. But the victories remain. The policies stay. The model exists for others to follow. And this site preserves the knowledge for the next generation of activists.
The Founding Members
HAFCAC was built by these Disabled people who refused to accept discrimination. Their names deserve to be remembered:
Debbie Domb
Kevin Caulfield
Tara Flood
David Webb
Peter Gay
And many others who contributed, campaigned, and kept the fight going for 15 years.
Now You Know the Full Story
Fifteen years. Three major victories. One lesson: when Disabled people organise, we win. Now it’s your turn to write the next chapter.