LGA responds to MS Society figures on young disabled adults

14 Nov 2017 10:29 AM

Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Chairman of the Local Government Association’s Community Wellbeing Board, responded to a survey based on figures obtained by the MS Society on the number of young disabled adults who are living in older people’s care homes

“As this survey shows, social care is about far more than just supporting our older citizens. It is about meeting a wide range of different support needs, affecting people of all ages. These include the thousands of people with learning disabilities who rely on care and support from their local council on a daily basis.

“But without new money, the support provided to adults with learning disabilities and those other groups who have care needs will be seriously under threat.

“A young person with a learning disability who has their whole life ahead of them needs to know they have a social care system that will be there for them in the decades ahead.

“Councils face a real financial challenge to provide the best possible support for growing numbers of people with learning disabilities who rightly want care services to help them live their life as they see fit. The system is now on the brink of collapse.

“There is an urgent need for government to address the social care crisis in next week’s Autumn Budget. As a minimum it should set out in further detail the intention to bring forward proposals for adult social care mentioned in the Queen’s Speech and how it proposes to fill the £2.3 billion annual funding gap that social care will face by 2020.”

MS Report:  Younger people with MS stuck in care homes for older people