Housing Solutions for Individuals with Learning Disabilities in North Somerset

1. North Somerset CTPLD Housing Options Conference Presentation Working in Partnership North Somerset CTPLD Housing Options Presentation 13/10/08

2. Housing Solutions An introduction to some of the key issues in North Somerset Alison Stone Planning & Development Manager Mandy Averill, Supporting People, Service Development Officer Learning Disabilities & Older People

3. In North Somerset we wanted to provide people with a Learning Disability with more choices about where they can live, particularly the choice of living in their own home

4. So we decided to get all the important people from Housing & Learning Disability Services together and form a group called the Learning Disability Delivery Group. The groups’ role is to find housing solutions for people with a Learning Disability in North Somerset

5. It was very important we had the right people at this group, who could support people with a Learning Disability to find the right accommodation for them

6. We asked people from different parts of the council and PCT to be in this group, we asked: The Joint Service Manager of the Community Team, the Planning and Development Manager, the Supporting People Team and lots of people representing different parts of the Council’s Housing Department.

7. The group needed to decide what were the most important things to do first The group agreed that the most important thing was to let the Housing Department know how many people needed houses in the next few years, what sort of houses they would need, when they would need them and where in North Somerset they needed to be.

8. The housing team wanted this information so that they could start to plan for people in the future and so that they could match houses they already had, with people’s individual needs

9. The planning work has been the most important part of the Housing Delivery Groups work so far We know what is needed now and in the future, so we can look at lots of different options around housing for people with a Learning Disability

10. PCP’s are informing us about what people need around housing and we are using this information to tell us about developing housing choices in North Somerset. The group also thought it was really important that everybody who supports people with a Learning Disability also knew people could choose where they wanted to live

11. We decided to work with the social workers, schools, colleges, connexions staff and family carers to talk to them about all available housing choices

12. We have linked the support and care people need to live independently in their own home, with offering people Personal Budgets. So far eight people in North Somerset have chosen to have the support & care provided by an Individual Budget

13. It is early days in North Somerset and this group has only been working together for 6 months but we are in the process of supporting 6 people into an Extra Care Development and 8 other people into their own accommodation