Learning Disability Coalition

Valuing People Now - The Learning Disability Coalition responds

19 January 2008

Commenting on the Valuing People Now Delivery Plan, Dame Jo Williams, co-chair of the Learning Disability Coalition, said:

'We are pleased that the Government has published a detailed delivery plan for Valuing People now. It sets out a clear path to achieving their vision for people with a learning disability. In particular, we welcome the Government's recognition that better information is needed about the numbers and needs of people with a learning disability.

"However, it is unrealistic to expect that improved service provision for an increasing number of people can be delivered within the current financial envelope. At the moment resources for people with learning disability are allocated on inadequate and outdated information.

"Research by the Centre for Disability Research has demonstrated that the number of people with a learning disability who need social care services is growing up to 5.5 times faster than previously estimated. This is significantly greater than the figure of one per cent per annum figure on which current expenditure is based.

"This is the reason why 34 per cent of people surveyed have had their daytime activities cut and an increasing number are excluded from services as councils tighten their eligibility criteria.

"Without analysing the funding implications of delivering Valuing People Now we only have half the picture. We now need a careful evaluation of how much it will cost to deliver Government promises. Over the next six months the Learning Disability Coalition will be working hard to calculate that figure."

Carol Boys, CEO of the Downs Syndrome Association, said: "Our helpline received an astonishing 17,000 calls last year from adults concerned about cuts to services, human rights abuses and the mental health needs of people with Downs Syndrome. This is an alarming reflection on the state of social care and the consequences of under funding."

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Notes to editor

• The Learning Disability Coalition is formed of ten organisations: Association for Real Change, British Institute of Learning Disabilities, Down's Syndrome Association, Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities, Mencap, National Forum for People with Learning Disabilities, People First, Sense, Turning Point and United Response.

• The Learning Disability Coalition was established in May 2007.

• People with a learning disability don't get an equal chance in life. That's why the Learning Disability Coalition is fighting to get sufficient public funding to meet their rights and needs.

• In 2005-2006 three quarters of councils experienced significant cost pressures for their learning disability services.

• Learning disability affects someone's intellectual and social development all their life.

• Learning disability is not mental illness. It is not dyslexia.

• To find out more, go to www.learningdisabilitycoalition.org.uk