§ Mr. BlizzardTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to provide earmarked funding to local authorities to(a) increase capacity and (b) modernise services for adults with learning disability. [146735]
§ Dr. LadymanWe have no such plans.
Our proposals for improving services for people with learning disabilities, their families and carers are set out in the White Paper, "Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century" (Cm 5086), published in March 2001. The White Paper announced the creation of two new funds to support its priorities, the Implementation Support Fund from April 2001 and the Learning Disability Development Fund from April 2002. Our annual report on learning disability, "Making Change Happen" (HC 514), published in April 2003, announced that the Support Fund would continue until March 2006; the Development Fund will also continue until March 2006. A copy of the report was sent to all English hon. and right hon. Members.
In addition, over £3 billion a year is spent on health and social care provision for people with learning disabilities. People with learning disabilities also use mainstream health and social services and benefit from increased expenditure on those services.