[holding 19 October 2006]: The Government are committed to ensuring that people are given a choice when deciding which care home to enter once they have decided that their needs will best be met in a care home.
The Choice of Accommodation Directions 1992 allow people who have been assessed by local authorities as requiring to move to a care home to exercise real and genuine choice over where they live. The Department issued revised guidance to local authorities on 14 October 2004.
In September 2004, the Department published a clarification note for commissioners and regulation and inspection authorities. This provides clarification on the policy framework for commissioning learning disability services and emphasises the key principle that local needs should be addressed by local expertise and resources.