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Gyles Glover

Partnership Boards: Questions we have been asked

This page sets out the questions of clarification we have been asked by sites completing the Partnership Board report template, and shows the answers we have given them.

To make it easier to see what is what, we have put:

Template Question numbers in bold,
The text from the template in ordinary text,
The question of clarification we have been asked in italics,
And finally our answer in plain text again.

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Question 1.2 The Number of adults with a Learning Disability who are known to the Local Authority.

Is this the same specification as for the NI 145 and 146 denominators (but split by age and gender)?

We take this to be similar to the denominator figure for National Indicators 145 and 146 except not restricted to those under 65. The Audit Commission website gives the full form of the definition for the former NI145.
'The number of adult learning disabled clients known to CASSRs (i.e., those who are assessed or reviewed in the financial year and who have received a service, as well as those who are assessed and/or reviewed but who have not received a service, and those learning disabled clients who should have been reviewed by the CASSR in a financial year but were not).'

Question 1.3 Number of young people ( aged 14-18 years ) with a learning disability (also Question 1.8 How many young people aged 16-18 receive direct payments ? and Question 3.6 Number of young people (aged 14-25 years) in out of area specialist education placements).

Children's services are able to provide this data, but first need clarity on whether these figures are intended to be just those in receipt of social care services (known to services) or whether it should also include SEN data from schools? If it is to include SEN data, is this only those young people with a statement or with lower levels of learning disability/difficulty?

We take this to mean only those children in touch with social services.

Question 1.5 What is the local budget for services for adults with a learning disability? - the table asks for breakdown by Social care, Health care, and Joint and for 2010/11 and 2011/12.

Finance can provide Social Care only but would need to know on what basis (i.e. see above) (We can’t provide Health or Joint Funding figures) Can you also clarify whether this is just in relation to the cost of care packages or whether Assessment and Care Management teams need including also?

The scope of the question covers all costs.

Question 3.3 The proportion of people with LD living in their own home or with family.

What is the denominator? Is it a proportion of ALD known to the Local Authority (as per NI 145/146 but including those aged 65+)?

When this question was raised in early May we gave the answer reproduced below. However further clarification was supplied by the Learning Disability Programme group in the Social Care, Local Government and Care Partnerships Directorate at the Department of Health on June 23rd. You can find this reproduced at the end of this paragraph. The key difference is whether people with learning disabilities aged 65 and over should be included. The new DH guidance indicates they should not. If Partnership Boards have not yet completed this work it would be better if they followed the DH guidance. In any case it would be helpful if they added a clarifying statement of which they have done.

Clarification From DH In Response To Questions From Croydon

Clarification from DH in response to questions from Croydon.doc
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Our original response was as follows:

We would take this indicator to relate to people aged 18 and over, with a learning disability, known to their local authority. As with question 1.2 (above) this has a wider scope than the former National Indicator 145 (NI145), as the question clearly includes people aged 65 and over. We would take the numerator, the number 'living in their own home or with family', to be those living in accommodation described in indicator 145 as 'settled'. According to the specification quoted above (question 1.2) this includes:

Owner Occupier/Shared ownership scheme (where tenant purchases percentage of home value from landlord)
Tenant – Local Authority/Arms Length Management Organisation/Registered Social Landlord/Housing Association
Tenant – Private Landlord
Settled mainstream housing with family/friends (including flat-sharing)
Supported accommodation/Supported lodgings/Supported group home (accommodation supported by staff or + resident caretaker)
Adult placement scheme
Approved premises for offenders released from prison or under probation supervision (e.g., Probation Hostel)
Sheltered Housing/Extra care sheltered housing/Other sheltered housing
Mobile accommodation for Gypsy/Roma and Traveller community

We have figures to include in each of the yearly percentage columns but require further clarification as to what numbers do you require in the left hand column - what are the numbers representing in relation to the percentages? Please could you provide more info on this in order for us to complete this question.

This question has a further ambiguity over what number should be reported in the first column. It should not be the denominator - or total number of people with a learning disability aged 18 and over known to the local authority, as this has already been asked in question 1.2 (see above). Instead, our view is that the number required is the number in the year to which the Template mainly refers, 2010/11. This number, when divided by the total number given in Question 1.2 either as the sum the top two cells or of the bottom two cells, should give the percentage labelled in question 3.3 as '% 2010/11'.

Question 3.4 Percentage of overall learning disabilities social care spend used to fund residential and nursing home placements. (Three years figures are requested including 2011/12 projected.)

It is unclear on the basis for the costs to be provided i.e. Gross, Gross less PCT contributions, Net (total cost less PCT and citizen contributions). The figures will differ substantially for either option. Can provide but on what basis (total gross or net)

We understand this to be asking for total spend by statutory authorities, not self-funding.

Question 3.5 Numbers of people (known to health and social care) living outside the local authority area.

Is this the numbers known by both agencies (health and social care) or is it known by either agency?

We would take this to mean known to either agency.

Also, is there any guidance to describe the types of accommodation, especially what categories to include in 'Residential settings'?

We would take 'Residential Settings' to mean Registered Care homes, and 'Other' to mean less common types of specialist accommodation such as Adult Placement schemes.

Finance can provide an estimate for Residential and Nursing out of local authority area spend for 2010/11 but we do not know the demographics for the other types of spend.

We would take this to mean spend by all statutory agencies. The response requested is from the Partnership Board, not a single agency.

Question 3.6: Number of young people (14-25) in out of area specialist education placements.

Could you please clarify what is meant by "out of area specialist education placements"?
As this has been put in the section of the proforma covering 'Where People Live', we take this to mean the number of young people in the specified age group in residential educational establishments outside the local authority area in which the young person is normally resident.

On this Question see also above, Question 1.3.

Question 3.7 - Ordinary residence disputes (social care and health).

Does this mean cases that have been sent through for dispute resolution or does it mean cases where we are in discussion with other local authorities?

We would take this to mean any cases at any stage of this process.

Question 3.8 What percentage of your market (in terms of expenditure) is provided by: In house (Local Authority), 3rd sector / charities (not for profit), Private / independent sector (for profit), Other?

Is this referring to the whole housing market or just the housing that people with learning disabilities (known to services?) are living in?

Please can you confirm which expenditure you refer to in the question below? We are struggling with this as unable to source data on 3rd sector organisations.

We would take this to mean only people for whose residence the local authority is paying. This would exclude people living with parents, or in residential accommodation but self-funding.

We take the reference to 'expenditure' to mean your local authority's expenditure on people 'normally resident' in their territory. If your area is characterised by a large amount of residential accommodation used by other local authorities, this will not include their expenditure.

Question 4.1 Please show the proportion of people with learning disabilities in paid employment (including being self-employed) known to local authorities.

We have the percentage figures for the 3 columns 2009/10, 2010/11 & 2011/12 projected - but are not sure what you mean by total column on the left - what information are you looking for? How does this relate to the other 3 columns?

The difficulty with this question is that it is not clear what should be entered in the first column, headed 'Total %'. Whilst the question does not specify this directly, on this occasion it seems reasonable to assume that it relates only to adults of roughly working age. NI146 took as its demominator adults learning disabled clients, known to CASSRs, and aged 18 to 64. (Although this is slightly anomalous since at the time to which it relates, women aged 60 to 64 were not classified as being 'of working age'.)

As with question 3.3 (above), the question asks for 'proportions'. The figures in the right hand three columns of the response to question 4.1 would therefore be expected to be percentage figures, dividing the number of adult learning disabled clients, aged 18 to 64, in the corresponding year and work category, by the population figure shown in the top box of question 1.2 for the current year, and corresponding figures for 2009/10 and (projected) for 2011/12. If a total is to be shown in the right-hand column, it makes most sense for it to be the total number in the work category for the current (2010/11) year. Why a percentage sign has been added here is simply unclear.

Question 4.4 Total local authority spend on day services (Question requests a single spend figure).

We would assume relevant transport costs to be an integral component of day services costs. As above, we would assume this means all statutory agency spending, but not self funded spending.

Question 4.5 Total local authority spend on supported employment

We do not have any specific spend within adults, can pro-rate this if required based on last years costs.

We would assume supported employment is only provided for people of working age.

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