To approve the Learning Disability Strategy 2018-2028.

The cabinet member health and wellbeing introduced the report and the interim director for adults and wellbeing and the senior commissioning officer set out the following key points:

·         the figures in paragraph 31 of the report required correction, the total annual spend on health and social care services for adults with learning disabilities in Herefordshire was £30.7 million, broken down to £7.4 million from the CCG and £23.3 million from the council;

·         the strategy aspired to enabling the same outcomes for people with learning disabilities as other residents;

·         although there were no specific savings targets there was an understanding of the financial constraints and the need to use resources as efficiently as possible;

·         the strategy had been produced in partnership with the CCG and the learning disability community, and both the adults and wellbeing scrutiny committee and the children and young people scrutiny committee had considered the strategy;

·         there was a need for a long term strategy as learning disabilities could be a lifelong condition, needs could range from those with minimal difficulties to those with profound and complex needs;

·         adults services would work with people with learning disabilities from the age of 14 as they prepared for the transition to adulthood;

·         there was a focus on the aspirations of people with learning disabilities in recognition that many wanted and expected to live as independently as possible and, for example, have paid employment.

Members of the cabinet expressed their support for the strategy and commended officers on the work that had gone into the document. In discussion of the item it was noted that:

·         the learning disability partnership board would have a significant role in delivering the strategy and work would take place to raise their profile;

·         work was underway with the communications team to put together a PR campaign for the strategy, which would include working with people with learning disabilities and an easy access version of the strategy;

·         the strategy was designed to be as flexible as possible so that it could react to emerging issues, the implementation plan would be refreshed every 2 years;

·         enabling people with learning disabilities to reduce their dependence on funded services could deliver efficiencies in the longer term and expand the range of opportunities;

·         Herefordshire was a high spending authority due to having a high proportion of people with learning disabilities in residential care, thresholds having been lower for admission in the past and it being complex to transition service users to other care models;

·         officers from the adults and children directorates had worked closely together on the strategy, particularly in the approach to young people preparing for adulthood, and this cross working would continue;

·         the council needed to work harder to be an exemplar of inclusive employment practice.

The chairs of the relevant scrutiny committees gave feedback from their consideration of the item.

The adults and wellbeing scrutiny committee were very happy to support the strategy but highlighted the challenges of keeping all partners on the same path and managing demands  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6