Welsh local authorities will need to increase investment in accommodation for people with learning disabilities by over £350m over the next two decades, auditors say.
A new report from the Auditor General for Wales has looked into whether local authorities have effective approaches in place to commission accommodation for adults with learning disabilities.
The report found that councils and their partners must do more to integrate services and resolve a number of complex challenges if they are to make their services sustainable.
It also said councils would have to invest around £365m in the next 20 years to address the growing number of people with learning disabilities who will need housing, and the increase in the number with moderate or severe needs.
‘With more and more people with learning disabilities needing accommodation, and with budgets continually being squeezed, local authorities need to make best us of their commissioning arrangements to address the financial challenge they face,’ said the auditor general for Wales, Huw Vaughan Thomas.
‘More efforts need to be made around prevention – such as through providing effective support at home. There also needs to be better partnership working with other organisations and integrating the way services are delivered more.’
