Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to provide housing for adults with (a) learning disabilities and (b) autism who are currently living in in-patient units so that they can live independently.

On 26 January 2024, we published statutory guidance on discharge from mental health inpatient settings. This guidance sets out key principles for how National Health Service bodies and local authorities across adult and children’s services should work together to support people in being discharged from mental health inpatient services, including mental health inpatient services for people with a learning disability and for autistic people. This guidance states that strong links should be made with relevant community services prior to, and during, the person’s stay in hospital, and that this should include links in relation to meeting the person’s housing needs.

We continue to support the delivery of new supported housing by providing capital subsidies to providers, through the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund and the Affordable Homes Programme in England.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is represented on the Building the Right Support Delivery Board. This cross-Government, cross-system board is responsible for driving progress on reducing the number of people with a learning disability and autistic people in mental health inpatient services.