Housing For Disabled Adults Faces Cash Crisis

The number of disabled people waiting for supported accommodation in Edinburgh has soared in the last five years as city leaders battle a cash crisis. New figures show that in September there were 136 people waiting to be housed by Edinburgh City Council – a rise of 89 per cent since 2001.

Officials say they are unable to cope because of a severe shortage of funding as the numbers of adults with learning difficulties grows.

An extra £1 million of funding was allocated from the health and social work budget this year to look after adults with learning difficulties.

But the funding is £3m short of what is needed to cope with rising demand on services.

The health and social care department is already facing a predicted £3m budget overspend because of the high number of young people who have profound disabilities and are no longer in the care of children’s services.

A council spokeswoman said: “It is a high priority but demand is growing and we do not have a finite pot of money.

“People with complex needs are surviving longer and as people with learning disabilities get older, their needs also become more complex.

“Many of the people who are on the waiting list have parents who aren’t getting any younger and so are becoming less able to cope so the demand grows again,” she added.

More than 40 per cent of those on the waiting list are being cared for at home, often by aging parents who are struggling to cope.

More than 72 per cent had been waiting for supported accommodation for more than a year and over a third for more than three years.

Tom Ponton, the city’s Liberal Democrat spokesman on health and social care, said that the health and social care department was in “crisis” and demanded extra funds from the Scottish Executive.

He said: “I have grave concerns for people with learning disabilities but we are powerless to do anything more for them.

“We have put something like £1m extra into the pot but it’s not nearly enough.

“Everyone is aware it’s not enough but our hands are tied. We are in crisis, as far as this is concerned.

“We are trying to find extra money but there is no more to be found.

“We have gone to the Scottish Executive with the begging bowl but they have refused.”

Councillors will this week consider the waiting list figures which show that while most of those on the waiting list are at home, others are waiting in hospital and care homes or in temporary supported accommodation.

The Family Advice and Information Resource (FAIR), which supports adults with learning disabilities and their carers, have said that many people are only housed once their situation has become desperate because their carer has died.

Project worker Pat Egan said: “We think part of the problem is that so many more people are being diagnosed with ADHD and autism so there are more people who need to be housed in supported accommodation.

“Previously, many of these people would have been left to fend for themselves or would have ended up in care institution or even prison.

“But it is amazing the amount of elderly people who are looking after young adults with learning disabilities who are staying at home.

“What is of particular concern is that in some cases people are not being housed until the carer has died and they become an emergency. It’s definitely a growing problem.”
Fight to find funds was well worth it

RICHARD DOUGLAS battled for more than two years to see his son Andrew settled in supported accommodation in Edinburgh this year.

Andrew, 23, has cerebral palsy and his parents wanted him to be able to live independently before they became too old.

Social workers began trying to find Andrew a place to live in 2003 after he returned from a three-year council-funded course where he was taught skills aimed at helping him live on his own.

He was finally settled in a flat in Trafalgar Lane in February of this year where he is watched round-the-clock by trained carers.

Mr Douglas, 55, of Duddingston, Edinburgh, said:

“The flats are brilliant. He has three neighbours who he gets on with so well he has gone away with them to Blackpool to see the lights.”

Mr Douglas believes Andrew only got a flat after his family fought tooth and nail so funding was found. His campaign, featured in the Evening News, was taken up by Councillor Ewan Aitken.