Study title

These data were generated as part of a two-year ESRC-funded research project examining how people with learning disabilities and their allies are responding to changes in social care provision in the UK, as traditional day services close and policy shifts towards personalisation and community-based enterprises. Using the concept of 'self-building’ to identify emergent practices and learning, researchers at the University of Southampton and the University of Dundee sought to develop case studies in four geographical areas in the UK: an urban and rural area in the South of England, and an urban and rural area in Scotland. The transcripts comprise interviews with local authority commissioners (n=5) and practitioners from supporting organisations (n=22), and focus groups and follow up individual interviews with people with learning disabilities (n=25).Self-build Social Care was a two-year research project (Feb 2018 – Feb 2020) funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (Reclaiming social care: Adults with learning disabilities seizing opportunities in the shift from day services to community lives (ES/P011764/1)) and carried out by researchers at the University of Southampton and the University of Dundee. With policy shifts towards personalisation and greater independence, social care provision in the UK is transitioning, with the closure of local authority-led day services and the call for more community-led initiatives. This coincided with local authorities facing significant cuts to public spending, resulting in long-term reductions in social care budgets for people with learning disabilities and a tightening of eligibility criteria. There had been little research into the lived experiences of people with learning disabilities and their allies as they responded to these changes. Therefore, the project sought to develop case studies in four geographical areas: one city and one county-wide rural area in both England and Scotland. Through observations in the...