Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to provide supportive housing for adults with learning disabilities whose parents have died or who are unable to care for their children on account of age or infirmity.

Supported housing plays an invaluable role in our society, helping some of our country’s most vulnerable people, including many adults with learning disabilities, to live as independently as possible. Since 2011, we have delivered 27,000 supported housing units for disabled, vulnerable and older people. At the Autumn Statement 2015, we announced £400 million of new specialist affordable homes for the vulnerable, elderly or those with disabilities.

In addition to the work of my Department, the Department of Health has made available, through the Care and Support Specialised (CASSH) Fund, approximately £200 million to fund about 6,000 new homes, including for older people; those with learning and physical disabilities; and mental ill health.

The Department of Health is also working with colleagues in NHS England on the Transforming Care Programme. The programme aims to ensure that people with learning disabilities and/or autism, mental illness or challenging behaviour are not kept in hospitals but are cared for in line with best practice, based on their individual needs. This is in addition to the £25 million capital fund for housing and technology to support people with a learning disability to live independently. Funding has been awarded to 52 separate projects in the 2016/17 and 2017/18 financial years.

Government is also helping older and disabled people to live independently and safely at home through the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG), which can contribute towards meeting the cost of adapting an older or disabled person's property, including people with learning disabilities. In the 2015 Spending Review DFG funding received year-on-year increases and will more than double from £220 million in 2015-16 to over £500 million by 2020.