Anthea Sully

Director of the Learning Disability Coalition

We represent 15 member organisations and over 160 supporter organisations

National Family Carer Network

Social care spending

• Spend on learning disability services has increased by 10% since 2004/05• In 2009/10, £4 billion was spent on learning disability services – up from £3.8 billion in 2008/09• This compares to a total social care budget of £16.8 billion in 2009/10• 56% of the social care budget is spent on older people, and 24% on people with a learning disability of working age• 38% of budgeted total net current expenditure in 2010-11 is on education, 17% on social care, 14% on housing benefits and 10% on police

Numbers of people with a learning disability in England

• There are 1.2 million people with a learning disability in England

• 191,000 adults with a learning disability are known to social services and 141,760 are receiving services

• Numbers of people with a learning disability are expected to increase by 30% over the next twenty years

Funding and financial settlement• The 2010 Budget announced £32 billion per year of cuts by 2014/15, including £11 billion worth of savings to the welfare budget

• Disability Living Allowance will be cut by 20%

• The 2010 Spending Review allocated an extra £2 billion per year by 2014/15 of funding for social care, including £1 billion per year to encourage joint working between the NHS and social care

• This money is not ring-fenced and it is proving difficult to trace where this money has been spent

• Other changes included:

• Time limiting ESA WRAG to one year

• Housing benefit changes

• Removing the mobility component of DLA

• Capping household benefits to £500 per week, with some exceptions

• Grants from central Government to local Government will no longer be ring fenced, and overall grants will be cut by 28% over four years

Funding and financial settlement

• The 2011 Budget stated the Government is planning £16 billion worth of cuts in 2011/12

• Some changes to welfare policy were announced – housing benefit will not be reduced for those on long-term job seekers support and the mobility component of DLA won’t be removed from those in residential care until 2013

• In July 2011, the Office for Budget Responsibility recognised that: “demographic change is a key source of long-term pressure on the public finances.”

What does this mean for social care?• 84% of local authorities said that their funding situation was difficult, with 1 in 5 making cuts and nearly 7 out of 10 making efficiency savings

• The evidence suggested that the situation was likely to get more difficult over the course of the Spending Review as local authorities are expected to make cuts of 28%

• The King’s Fund estimates that there will be a funding gap of £1.2 billion in social care by 2014/15

• There are 29,000 adults with a learning disability who live with parents age 70 or older, many of whom are too old or frail to continue with their role

How have standards of living for people with a learning disability changed?

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%

A holiday

Going out

A visit to the pub or club

A hobby or sport

New clothes

New shoes

Telephoning friends or family

Heating

Food

2003/4

2011

Dilnot Commission• In July 2011, the Dilnot Commission reported back its findings to the Government

• They recommended a lifetime cap on care of £35,000, starting at £10,000 for those aged 40 who need care, and rising by £10,000 each decade until the full amount of £35,000 is reached

• This recognises that younger people will not have had a chance to make provision for care

• Those born with a disability who present a care need before the age of forty will have all their care paid for by the state

• There are some concerns as to how Dilnot’s recommendations fit in with the proposed welfare reforms

Law Commission

• Defines the meaning of adult social care – it means the care and support provided by local authorities in relation to their responsibilities towards adults who need extra support• Recommends single statue regulated through a structure of statute, regulations and guidance issued through the state• Statutory principles include: choice and control, person centred planning, broad view of needs, independent living and safeguarding of adults• Key questions:

fundingassessmenteligibility

Engagement process

• Concludes 2nd December• Six themes:

quality, personalisation, shaping local care services, prevention, integration the role of financial services

Building a system to support everyone

• The fact that are living longer needs to be celebrated• Support should not just be for older people, but for people of working age too• needs to be national eligibility criteria and an end to the postcode lottery

Bottom line for reform must be additional funding

• Opportunity to leave a legacy• Without better funding, reform will fail• Current system failing thousands of people already• Despite the economic crisis, the country is four times richer than when the NHS was established

• The sector needs to argue for more money in the system ahead of the white paper• Need to make sure that people with a learning disability are remembered in the debate over the next few months

Better, fairer funding for social care – we can’t afford not to

www.learningdisabilitycoalition.org.uk