Learning Disability Coalition
Policy and statistics
Policy background
The term social care encompasses a wide range of services which support people with daily tasks that they cannot accomplish themselves and which ideally help them, as much as possible, to become independent and to play a full part in society.
Amongst many other services, it includes:
Social care is not restricted to people with a learning disability: for example, people with mental health problems, older people and other groups also receive it.
The Learning Disability Coalition believes that people with a learning disability should have the same chances and choices as everyone else.
The Government has promised "that people needing care deserve to be treated with dignity and respect." The Government has stated that it understands that the social care system needs to be reformed, and established the Dilnot Commission to look into long-term care and how it should be funded. The report was published in July 2011.
The Emergency Budget in June 2010 announced that there would be £6.2 billion worth of cuts, including cutting the money given to Local Governments by £1.165 billion. The Emergency Budget also said that there would be big changes to the welfare system and Disability Living Allowance. This was followed in the autumn by the Comprehensive Spending Review and the settlement for local councils. The Comprehensive Spending Review went some way in recognising the chronic underfunding of social care, as the Government promised an extra £2 billion per year for social care services. However this money isn't ring fenced and doesn't meet all of the costs of the increase in the numbers of people who need support.
The settlement for local councils meant that the majority of local authorities have less money than they had before which has put significant pressures on funding for people with learning disabilities. Many local councils are having to restrict access to services or are having to care more for services.
The Learning Disability Coalition believes that without better funding for social care, the human rights and life choices for people with a learning disability may suffer. We are putting pressure on the Government to make sure that social care funding is not affected by the forthcoming cuts.
Social care policy
Commission on Funding of Care and Support (the Dilnot Commission)
The Commission was established in July 2010 to make recommendations to the Government how to create an affordable and sustainable funding system for care and support for all adults in England. The Commission was made up of Andrew Dilnot (chair), Dame Jo Williams and Lord Norman Warner.
The terms of reference for the Commission were as follows:
The Commission report was published on 4th July 2011 and its work will be included in the White Paper on adult social care, which is expected in spring 2012.
The full report can be found here.
Also available in easy-read here.
The Learning Disability Coalition worked closely with the Dilnot Commission to ensure the best possible outcome for people with a learning disability.
Law Commission's review of adult social care law
The Law Commission is undertaking a review of adult social care law in England and Wales. They have been examining all legislation concerning adult social care and have carried out an extensive consultation on possible reforms to the legal system. The review will feed into the White Paper on social care.
Valuing People
The Department of Health has announced that the Valuing People Now team will no longer exist from March 2011, but they have stressed that it will continue as a policy.
The Government first set out its aspirations for people with a learning disability in the paper Valuing People, published in 2001 and the consultation paper Valuing People Now, published in 2007. Valuing People Now was published because the Government believed that the implementation of Valuing People was progressing too slowly. It also slightly modifies the Government's stance on some issues. The final version of Valuing People Now, incorporating the response to the consultation was published in October 2008.
Valuing People:
Valuing People Now:
Independent Living Fund
The Independent Living Fund was established in 1988 by the Department of Health and Social Security as an independent trust, which was designed to give weekly payments to around 300 severely disabled people who would have suffered severe financial loss from the abolition of supplementary benefits ‘additional requirements’ payments. It was intended to be a temporary fund, but its expenditure increased from £1.1 million in 1988/90 to £338 million in 2008/09 and the number of recipients increased to 21,000.
Due to an increase in demand for funding, in March 2010 the ILF announced that it would only be accepting applications from people who were in paid work of more than 16 hours per week. This led to a surge in applications, resulting in the closure of the ILF to new applicants.
In April 2011, the Department for Work and Pensions announced that there will be a consultation on the future of the ILF later in the year. Maria Miller, Minister for Disabled People has promised that although the ILF will remain closed to new applicants, the budget to support existing ILF users will be protected throughout this Parliament.
A consultation on the future of the ILF will take place in the spring of 2012, as part of the wider reform of care and support.
Welfare policy
Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
One of the most controversial changes to the welfare system announced by the Government is the removal of the mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance for people in residential care. The Government claims that as local authorities are supposed to provide transport within care packages, this means that people are being double funded. When it was first proposed, this was due to be implemented in October 2012 but has now been put back to be included in the wider reform of DLA in 2013-14. In November 2011, following a campaign by many disability organisations, the Government decided to reverse this proposal and retain the mobility component of DLA for people in residential care.
As part of the wider welfare changes, the Government has announced that it intends to replace DLA with a Personal Independence Payment (PIP). The Government has said that this will be based on a medical assessment and that claimants will be re-assessed on a regular basis. The lower, middle and higher rates of the mobility and care components will be replaced by mobility and daily living components which will have only a higher and lower rate.
You can read more about the campaign against the removal of the mobility component of DLA here.
Housing benefit
The Government has announced that housing benefit rates are to be capped at £250 per week for a one bedroom property, £290 per week for a two bedroom property, £340 per week for a three bedroom property and £400 per week for four bedrooms or more. This will come into effect for new claimants from April 2011, and January 2012 for existing claimants.
Inititally the Government announced that it would reduce Housing Benefit by 10% for people who had been on JobSeekers Allowance for a year or more, but in the 2011 Budget, it was decided that this would not go ahead.
Publications from the Learning Disability Coalition
Social care - the continuing crisis (2011)
Following on from last year's social care in crisis report, the Learning Disability Coalition repeated its survey of social care providing local authorities to find out the impact of the changes made by the Emergency Budget and Comprehensive Spending Review. This was accompanied by a survey of over 350 people with learning disabilities, their families and carers which asked them if and how their care had changed over the last year.
The results showed that 90% of local authorities had less funding than last year and 84% described their funding situation as "difficult". 20% were making cuts to services, which was double the number from last year. Of the people with learning disabilities who were surveyed, 20% said that they had been told that their hours of care were being reduced and 19% would see a reduction in funding. A third had been contacted by their council about a change to eligibility criteria.
You can read the report here.
It is also avaliable in easy read.
LDC/Mencap/Institute of Public Care report on "Where has the money gone?" Patterns of Expenditure on Learning Disability Services (2010)
Learning disability is the second highest area of social care spend, but many people with a learning disability are experiencing cuts in services. The Learning Disability Coalition and Mencap commissioned the Institute of Public Care to look into where the money is being spent and some of the reasons behind the increase in expenditure.
You can read the report here.
Stories from the Frontline (2010)
As part of our 'protect the frontline' campaign, we asked a number of people with a learning disability and their families to keep diaries over one week. The diaries became part of our publication stories from the frontline, which showed the difference that frontline services make to people with learning disabilities.
You can read stories from the frontline here.
Social care in crisis - from the perspective of local authorities in England (2010)
In early 2010 we carried out a survey of local authorities in England to find out about the state of funding for learning disabilities services. 84% of local authorities who responded told us that their situation was difficult, and 10% were already making cuts to services.
You can read it here.
Tell it like it is (2008)
The Learning Disability Coalition carried out a survey of nearly 700 people with a learning disability to find out what the effects of cuts to services and extra charges are having on people with a learning disability.
Download our report 'Tell it like it is'
Estimating Future Need for Adult Social Care Services for People with Learning Disabilities in England - Lancaster Univesity (2008)
This report estimates the level of need for social care services from people with learning disabilities from 2009 to 2026. It showed that there is a much higher level of need that was thought by the Government.
You can read the report here.
People with Learning Disabilities in England - Lancaster University (2008)
This report was based on national data of people with learning disabilities and looked at their life experiences and the services that they use.
You can read the report here.
Key statistics
These documents summarise some of the main statistics about the number of people with learning disabilities in England and about their funding.
Download our Key Statistics factsheet
Download the accessible version of our Key Statistics factsheet
Submissions
The Learning Disability Coalition's submission to the Department of Health's 'Caring for our Future' engagement process
The Learning Disability Coalition has submitted its response to the Department of Health's engagement process which will feed into the white paper on social care in spring 2012.
You can read the LDC's response here.
The Learning Disability Coalition responds to the Health Select Committee's inquiry into social care
After the publication of the Dilnot Commission's report, the Health Select Committee called for evidence as it looks into how the Commission's recommendations can be followed up and implemented.
You can read our submission here.
The Learning Disability Coalition responds to the Health Select Committee's inquiry into public expenditure
The Health Select Committee called for evidence for its inquiry into public expenditure on health and social care support.
You can read our submission here.
The Learning Disability Coalition's submission to the Dilnot Commission's call for evidence (2011)
In December 2010, the Dilnot Commission launched its call for evidence to hear people's ideas on what a future funding system for care and support should be.
You can read the original call for evidence here and the Commission's response to all submissions here.
You can read our submission here.
The Learning Disability Coalition's submission to the Law Commission's review of adult social care law (2010)
You can read our submission here.