If we enable working age and lifelong disabled adults to have better and more equitable access to the right education, employment and housing opportunities, they can lead ‘gloriously ordinary’ lives. In addition to better outcomes, this would also enable them to develop the skills to more actively participate and contribute to their local community through work, volunteering, and education.
There is an opportunity to reform the system , with central government support and local delivery. This requires a shift to a model of support which genuinely maximises the independence of each individual , by developing a care system which is more aspirational and less risk- averse , and which as a result reduces institutionalisation and over-provision of care.
Outcomes for these adults do not appear to be improving in line with this increased expenditure, in terms of health, education, employment, and social interactions and relationships. For example:
Life expectancy is 20 years shorter than people without a disability
Working age disabled adults are 2.5 times more likely to leave education with no qualification
Expenditure on adult social care support for working age and lifelong disabled adults has increased by 32 % between 2019 and 2024. This makes support for working age and lifelong disabled adults the largest and fastest growing area of expenditure in adult social care 1 Increased spending is driven primarily by the complexity and type of care that individuals are receiving. The average level of weekly expenditure per individual has increased by 31 % between 2019 and 2024.
Without reform, total council spending on working age and lifelong disabled adults will need to increase by 50 % by 2030. While 86% of unemployed people with a learning disability want a paid job, only 5.1% of adults with a learning disability known to their local authority are in paid employment
Working age and lifelong disabled adults make up 40 % of all adult social care service users.
There are several key enablers to making this shift happen:
More focus in the national conversation on social care
In 2023/24, 63
%
Defining a common ambition for exceptional outcomes
New housing solutions for disabled adults
of the net adult social care commissioned support budget was on working age and lifelong disabled adults.
A review of national funding
A combination of crucial local enablers
14 (1) Support for working age and lifelong disabled adults makes up 63% of the net adult social care budget in England in the financial year 2022/23 – £10.1bn. This area of expenditure has also been growing faster than any other part of adult social care. Expenditure grew by 32% between 2019/20 and 2023/24, a faster rate than of growth than inflation and the minimum wage, and faster than the growth rate of expenditure on support for older adults.
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