The Prime Minister said:
“We will not apply the Local Housing Allowance cap to supported housing – indeed we will not be implementing it in the wider social housing sector, and the full details will be made available when we publish our response to the consultation.
“This is something we have been looking at very closely over the past year… and I can confirm that we will be publishing our response to that on Tuesday 31 October.”
Dan Scorer, Head of Policy at Mencap, said:
“We hope the Prime Minister’s welcome words today will lead to a more certain future for disabled people who want to live independently, in safe environments where they are supported to be part of their community.
“We have long argued that the Government’s LHA cap was unworkable and would have a devastating impact on the ability of housing providers to invest in and provide suitable housing for people with a learning disability. In worst case scenarios it could have harmed the move away from housing people in inappropriate accommodation, such as inpatient units where people are at an increased risk of abuse and neglect.
“We hope the further details due to emerge from Government will remove the uncertainty that has been plaguing the supported sector, undermining future investment, and allow organisations to continue their work in providing the lifeline that supported housing offers to disabled people.”
-ENDS-
For further information or to arrange interviews, please contact the Mencap press office on 020 7696 5414 or media@mencap.org.uk.
Notes to editors
About Mencap
There are 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK. Mencap works to support people with a learning disability, their families and carers by fighting to change laws, improve services and access to education, employment and leisure facilities. Mencap supports thousands of people with a learning disability to live their lives the way they want.
For advice and information about learning disability and Mencap services in your area, contact Mencap Direct on 0808 808 1111 (9am-5pm, Monday-Friday) or email help@mencap.org.uk
What is a learning disability?
A learning disability is a reduced intellectual ability which can cause problems with everyday tasks – for example shopping and cooking, or travelling to new places – which affects someone for their whole life.
People with a learning disability can take longer to learn new things and may need support to develop new skills, understand difficult information and engage with other people. The level of support someone needs is different with every individual. For example, someone with a severe learning disability might need much more support with daily tasks than someone with a mild learning disability.
Learning disability is not a mental illness or a learning difficulty. Very often the term ‘learning difficulty’ is wrongly used interchangeably with ‘learning disability’.