The impact of social policy on changes in professional practice within learning disability services: different standards for children and adults? A two-part examination: part 2. Professional services under the coalition: the trends continue apace.

This is the second of two articles examining links between policy developments and changes in professional practice within learning disability services in England. The first article focused on policy foundations over the last 30 years, and concluded that there was a developing gap in professional inputs between children's and adult services. This article, written one year into the Coalition government, argues that its policies--especially the large-scale reduction in public expenditure, but also the decline in support for inclusion of children in mainstream education, the rapid growth of academies, and proposals for the reorganization of the NHS--have exacerbated the trends identified earlier. In addition, local authorities, though outwardly compliant, have variously interpreted their responsibilities under the personalization agenda, in particular in relation to individual budgets, and this has resulted in assessments of need being based on 'service hours' rather than service quality and staff qualifications.

The impact of social policy on changes in professional practice within learning disability services: different standards for children and adults? A two-part examination: Part 1. The policy foundations: from welfare markets to Valuing People, personalization and Baby P.

This is the first of two articles examining links between policy developments and changes in professional practice within learning disability services in England, focusing upon emergent differences between children's and adult provision. The article focuses on the evolving tension around policy directions and managerialism/professionalism, with the latter as a set of practices driving services, particularly following the 1988 Griffiths Report but referring also to its antecedents. Implications of this development are examined to highlight a difference in emphasis between the credibility and professional status of the workforce in children's, as opposed to adult, services for people with learning disabilities. A historical narrative demonstrates a continuum from the policies of Thatcherism to those of New Labour, underpinned by the assertion that normalization ideas have shaped both social policy and professional directions. The origins of current policy initiatives covering the last 20 years are explored, showing the consequences of a developing gap between professional inputs for children's and adult services.