Wiltshire Independent Living Strategy 2022 to 2027

We have high aspirations for people in Wiltshire. We believe everybody has the right to live an independent life, to make choices about how, where and with whom they live, and to achieve the things they want out of life. Our starting point is to celebrate people's strengths and give people the support they need to build on those strengths.

Accommodation and support should promote healthy, independent, meaningful lives. Living in the right type of housing, in the right place, with the people we choose, makes all of us feel secure and provides a sense of place and community.

The vision of this strategy is to maximise the independence, choice, and control for people with a learning disability, mental health condition and/or autism spectrum condition in Wiltshire by providing the right accommodation and support in the right place at the right time. By enabling people to take risks, we will enable individuals to live the kinds of lives they want for themselves.

Purpose and scope

The strategy addresses where we are now, highlights the gaps and obstacles that stop us achieving our vision, and provides a plan for getting there. The strategy has been led by Wiltshire Council, but it won't be possible to achieve our vision without us all working together. To create real choice and quality, we also need to develop our local markets further.

The strategy focuses on people with learning disabilities, mental health conditions and/or autism spectrum conditions¹. We follow a "whole life" approach, which means that we emphasise the person over their diagnosis and that we support people to manage the stages and transitions in their lives. We will use the information we have about today's 11-year-olds to plan the right support when they become adults. However, this strategy does not address the needs of younger children; and whilst it will highlight the needs of an ageing learning disabled population, it will not address wider needs around frailty and dementia.

Specifically, this strategy will:

• increase the choice and quality of accommodation and support for people with MH/LD/A as their lives progress
• move away from residential care as far as possible towards housing and support that promotes independence and control
• address gaps so that we enable people to access and keep their own tenancies
• understand, review, and develop pathways towards recovery and independence - especially for adults with mental health conditions
• engage with housing and social care providers (including the Council) and stimulate the market to create new accommodation and support in the right places
• inform capital spend planning and clarify revenue/rents affordability
• provide certainty and stability - enabling us to plan for next 5+ years
• promote employment opportunities for people with learning disabilities, mental health needs and/or autism spectrum conditions
• ensure that people who use services, carers and professionals can access clear, simple information to help them make informed choices - this includes having a shared language around different types of services and support
• address health and housing inequalities faced by people with mental health needs, learning disabilities and/or autism spectrum conditions
• address exceptionally high spend/unit care costs in Wiltshire
• create flexibility, so that where possible people do not have to move home when their needs change (except in exceptional circumstances)
• learn from other areas identified as best practice
• improve and clarify our processes - both within our organisations and across partnerships

During the COVID-19 pandemic, young people, adults, parents, and carers have faced significant challenges. The social care market has been under enormous pressure to meet needs, and many of the national challenges facing social care - labour shortages, a depleted workforce, funding etc - apply in Wiltshire too. However, we have also seen new solutions during the pandemic - new innovations in how people are supported (including through better use of technology), stronger relationships between the Council, NHS and independent sector, and a sharper focus on quality and outcomes.

¹ Definitions of these terms can be found at Appendix 1.