Learning disability clients and day centres

1) How many adults aged 18-65 with a learning disability were known to social services in a) 2014/2015 b) 2015/2016 c) 2016/2017 d) 2017/2018 e) 2018/2019

2) How many adults aged 18-65 with a learning disability attended day activities in a) 2014/2015 b) 2015/2016 c) 2016/2017 d) 2017/2018 e) 2018/2019
i. 5 days a week or more
ii. 4 days a week
iii. 3 days a week
iv. 2 days a week
v. 1 day a week
vi. 0 days a week?

We may hold this information but as we do not routinely record day activities and their duration as a reportable category we would need to manually examine the care records of 447 individual learning disability clients and even on an average of 5 minutes per case would mean a total of approximately 2,235 minutes or 37.25 hours. This is in excess of the 18 hours allowed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 Section 12  – Cost of Compliance.

3) How many a) day centre places and b) equivalent day service places for adults aged 18-65 with a learning disability were funded by the local authority in the following financial years:
i. 2014/2015
ii. 2015/2016
iii. 2016/2017
iv. 2017/2018
v. 2018/2019
and how many do you expect will be funded in vi. 2019/2020?

We may hold this information but as we do not routinely record day centre places and day service places  we would need to manually examine the care records of 447 individual learning disability clients and even on an average of 5 minutes per case would mean a total of approximately 2,235 minutes or 37.25 hours. This is in excess of the 18 hours allowed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 Section 12 – Cost of Compliance.

4) If there have been day service closures within the local authority, have any alternative services been put in place for those who attended the day centre; i.e. new learning disability-specific community activities or transport to/from suitable existing day activities?

Yes. Where there have been closures alternative arrangements are made for those eligible.

5) Have charges for any of the following services increased since 1st April 2014:
i. day centre attendance
ii. transport to and from day activities
iii. any related activities;
and if so by how much in each financial year?

Since the implementation of the Care Act (April 2015) Devon County Council will undertake a needs assessment to determine the value of a person’s Personal Budget. The Charging for Care Services team then undertakes a financial assessment to determine a person’s maximum weekly contribution towards the total value of their personal budget (i.e. not the individual service elements). The financial assessment is based upon the persons declared individual circumstances and the outcome can be that the person is required to pay either the full cost, or nothing or a contribution (anywhere between nil and the full cost).

The cost that forms part of the Personal Budget charge will vary according to the actual cost of the day care provision and have been increased by inflation as follows: