To advise Cabinet of two major developments for services for people with learning disability and seek endorsement of the approach.

THAT  (a)        Cabinet endorse self-directed support as the mainstream service response to meeting the needs of people with learning disability from April, 2008, and authorise the Cabinet Member (Adult Social Care and Health) to agree the level of the Resource Allocation System;

(b)   Cabinet authorises officers to complete the partnership agreement negotiations on the detail of the contract with Focus Futures.  A further report to be brought to Cabinet as a Key Decision for agreement of the contract and financial terms and conditions;

(c)   A seminar on services for people with learning disability be provided for all Members; and

(d)   All Members receive a copy of the Cabinet Report.

The success of the modernisation and improvement programme for Learning Disability Services, developed following a comprehensive needs analysis and the Commission for Social Care Inspection, depends on a new model of service; moving away from a service led response to a model based on independence and choice. The two initiatives described in this report are key aspects of this approach.

The traditional model of service currently in operation does not have the potential to improve services or contribute to “capping” spend and is unsustainable. To continue with the current approach will bring ever increasing costs which will be unavoidable.