Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the average annual cost to the public purse of supporting a person with challenging behaviour and learning disabilities, autism or both within an assessment and treatment unit.
In 2015/16, spend on General Practitioner Learning Disabilities Directed Enhanced Services (DES) was £12.376 million. Under the DES, patients aged 14 and over with learning disabilities are offered an annual health check, which includes producing a health action plan.
The National Audit Office has recently estimated that the annual cost of supporting a person with challenging behaviour and learning disabilities, autism or both within an assessment and treatment unit is £180,000.