We support giving people choice and control in respect of the adult social care services they require. We will place increased emphasis on prevention and promoting independence and enabling people with social care needs to access a range of co-ordinated services in flexible and imaginative ways. We will play a key strategic leadership role to work with a range of partners, including the NHS and independent and voluntary sectors, to provide planned and integrated services and ensure the effective use of resources.

We will:

continue to modernise day services and develop supported living accommodation for people with learning disabilities, based on person-centred planning;
implement lead commissioning arrangements with the NHS and integrated health and social care services for people with learning disabilities;
support the work of the Leicestershire Learning Disability Partnership Board in promoting strategies for communication and involvement;
support implementation of an action plan to respond to the Government Report on Mental Health and Social Exclusion;
complete the integration of our adult mental health services with the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust by 2008;
improve the take-up of direct payments;
increase the number of disabled people accessing employment and volunteering opportunities;
ensure that carers can access the services they need in their own right;
pilot arrangements for disabled people to carry out self-assessments of their needs;
develop services in line with priorities in the five year Supporting People Strategy;
increase the take-up of services by people from ethnic minority communities; and
work to ensure that adults with learning disabilities, physical and sensory impairments, and mental health problems and their carers have access to educational opportunities in their own community.

HIGH PRIORITIES	WE WILL ACHIEVE
Increase take up of direct payments	30% increase per year of people with mental ill-health and learning disabilities receiving direct payments
Employment of disabled people	An increase of 50 disabled people gaining paid work each year and an additional 100 voluntary work placements per year
Modernisation of day services for people with learning disabilities	Completion of our service modernisation programme
Development of lead commissioning and integration of learning disability service	Health and social care learning disability services hosted by the County Council from July 2006