Younger adults services weather council cuts storm

Spending on frontline services for working-age adults with learning disabilities has largely been sheltered in the midst of swingeing council cuts to adult social care, Laing & Buisson’s latest market report has shown. According to Social Care for Adult with Learning Disabilities & Mental Illness UK Market Report 2013, although growth in English councils’ gross spending on younger adults’ learning disability services has slowed down from 6.8% a year in the pre-cuts period 2007/08 – 2010/11 to just 1.2% (projected) for 2012/13, councils appear to have protected their front line budgets in a way which has prioritised this client group, since there is still at least some positive growth in spending. In contrast, English councils trimmed 7% off their gross spending on older people’s care in 2011/12 – their biggest spending head – with a further 2.1% haircut budgeted for older people in 2012/13.