This report from the Learning Disability Task Force reviews progress of the ‘Valuing People’ initiative and looks at how the ‘person centred’ approach to supporting people with disabilities is being developed. It warns that the journey towards full citizenship is not complete and barriers continue to exist. There are 800,000 adults with learning disabilities in England, 2.2% of the adult population, and expenditure on services accounts for around £1.6bn, 3.4% of NHS expenditure and £2.25bn, 14.8%, of Local Authority Social Services expenditure. There is also major public expenditure in housing, education, employment services and through a range of specialist funding streams and yet the needs of people with learning disabilities are repeatedly given insufficient priority by statutory organisations.The report seeks to improve knowledge about the numbers and needs of people, uses of current financial expenditure, and the need for increased and more transparent expenditure in the future. It emphasises the need for unity of thinking around strategic intent, funding allocations and performance review.
The report is available at: