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Learning Disability

Volume 482: debated on Tuesday 4 November 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what requirements there are upon local authorities to (a) hold and (b) maintain adult learning disability registers; and if he will make a statement; (231546)

(2) which local authorities have an up-to-date adult learning disability register;

(3) how many adult learning disability registers capture whether the person has a profound learning disability;

(4) what guidance he has issued to local councils on how to use school data on young people with profound and multiple learning disabilities in order to plan for their needs as they move into adult services; and if he will make a statement.

There are no requirements upon local authorities (LAs) to hold and maintain adult learning disability registers. It is for LAs to work with local partners to determine the numbers and needs of their population through the joint strategic needs assessment. Las will also hold details of adults known to services and their level of need.

The information on which LAs have an up-to-date adult learning disability register is not held centrally, nor is information on how registers capture individuals level of need.

There has been no guidance issued by the department to local councils in relation to school data. However, guidance by the Director of Adult Social Services (DASS) 2006, sets out the responsibility of the DASS for arrangements to support the transition of service users between children's and adult's services. A copy of this guidance has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what (a) total annual expenditure on support packages for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (b) the maximum care package awarded for someone with a profound and multiple learning disability was in each local authority in each of the last five years. (231662)

Expenditure data on people with profound and multiple learning disabilities and on the level of individual care packages are not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities are living in out-of-borough placements. (231663)

The Department does not hold data on the percentage of people with profound and multiple learning disabilities living in out-of-borough placements. However, it does hold information on the percentage of all adults with learning disabilities in residential care and nursing care placements, placed outside local authority areas: 32 per cent. of supported residents in this group are placed outside local authority areas.