£25m fund for people with learning disabilities

The government has announced a £25 million housing and technology fund to help people with learning disabilities live independently.

Focused on helping use technology to adapt the homes of people with learning disabilities, the funding will be available to local authorities and community organisations, who will be able o bid for between £10,000 and £3 million.

The Department of Health said the new fund will complement the Transforming Care programme, which aims to move people out of hospitals and into the community. The new technology could include floor sensors to monitor for falls or fingerprint scanners for doors.

Health Minister David Mowat said: “The government is determined to improve the life chances of people with learning disabilities, and to make sure they never feel excluded from society. We want to harness all the benefits of technology to achieve this.”

Alicia Wood, chief executive of Learning Disability England, said: “We know that a lack of housing choices for people with learning disabilities is only partly down to the need for capital, and what stops people and their families getting the solutions they want is a lack of creative thinking.”

The deadline for applications is 28 October.