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1 in 4 adults with a learning disability stuck at home due to cuts to day services says mencap report

John Northfield

A report from the learning disability charity mencap, based on data from a freedom of information request to 152 local authorities, an online survey of 280 people with learning disabilities and their carers and a survey of nearly 200 professionals suggests that nearly a third of local authorities have closed day services in the last three years resulting in 1 in 4 adults with a learning disability remaining at home.

The report suggests that cuts and increased charging have had a major impact on people with learning disabilities resulting in many left feeling isolated and cut off from communities.

The report finds:

  • Nearly 1 in 3 local authorities have closed day services in the last three years
  • 1 in 5 of those who have closed day services are not offering alternatives
  • 57% of people with learning disability known to services do not receive any day service, compared to 48% in 2009/10.
  • 3 in 5 local authorities have increased day services charges by an average of 70%.

They also found that 9 in 10 respondents with a learning disability felt that had not been adequately consulted about changes. 64% were not asked for their views at all.

In a press release to accompany the publication of the report, Mencap’s chief Executive, Mark Goldring said:

It is deeply worrying that progress towards greater participation of disabled people in the community and mainstream society risks being undone by a failing system that has long been ignored and is now creaking under the pressure of increased demand and budget cuts.”

You can read the full report here: Stuck at Home, the impact of day services cuts on people with a learning disability,  Mencap, 2012

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After qualifying as a social worker, John worked in community learning disability teams before getting involved in a number of long-stay hospital closure programmes, working to develop individual plans for people moving into their own homes. He worked for BILD, helping to develop the Quality Network and was editorial lead for the NHS electronic library learning disabilities specialist collection. This led him to found the Learning Disabilities Elf site with Andre Tomlin as a way of making the evidence accessible to practitioners in health and social care. Most recently he has worked as part of Mencap's national quality team and also been involved in a number of national website developments, including the General Medical Council's learning disabilities site.

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  • Pauline Thomas

    Pauline Thomas

    14 years ago
    I do not want to knock Mencap because they have been a lifeline to many people, but a lot of these problems we have now with local authorities and their present lack of provision of services for people with LD were being questioned by carers when Valuing People was first introduced more than ten years ago. Unfortunately no one wanted to listen. Especially the organisations and charities that were going to benefit from this radical change to LD services. We, the carers, were called dinosaurs and even our motives were under suspicion as we were accused of wanting only 'baby sitting' services for our loved ones instead of 'proper out in the community care'. Day centres were demonised as being outdated. Some of them were, but a lot of them were good well run places which met the needs of lots of disabled people. There were no austerity measures when the White Paper was rolled out and many LA's were paid handsomely for their 'modernisation of day services'. Sadly LA's were already using the ethos of the White Paper to drastically cut their day services. 'Choice' did not raise its head once in this slash and burn of the day centres. All the promises of better services have been laid waste to 'austerity measures.' But were the promises of better services and choice ever going to be on the agenda of many LA's even before the down turn? I very much doubt it. As I said previously, Mencap are and have been a good friend to many carers and their loved ones, my family included, but they need to take on board that they and others were very naive in believing that LA's were genuine when they promised choice for its service users with LD. It is a sad fact that in my LA a once loved day centre with its kitchens, session rooms and dining hall has been lying empty and deteriorating for six years while people with LD are being looked after in church halls and shop fronts. No wonder there has been a rise in pyschology referrals. Let us hope and pray that Mencap and the coalitions latest campaign will be successful in reinstating the best of the day centres that were axed so readily by greedy LA's.
    • 1 reply
    • John Northfield
      John Northfield 14 years ago
      Hi Pauline, Thanks for your comment. I think your comments on the variability of quality in day services provided is well made and I have certainly experienced that myself. Obviously the economic backdrop now is completely different to when the day services modernisation programme was introduced, but I wonder if there are readers of the blog who have had some positive experiences of the changes? John