Making the market work for people with learning disabilities

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Abstract
This article identifies the potential of contracting to secure changes in the management and organization of community services for people with learning disabilities. Practical and theoretical arguments are deployed to identify how contract and related market factors can be used to deliver more effective and higher quality services. Possibilities for enhancing the contracting process are examined from a number of perspectives with suggestions for more proactive contracting and market management: specifying more radical and effective services and promoting quality by enabling user-centred approaches. In so doing, the article challenges many of the assumptions underlying the performance of the market in community and social care and a case is made for establishing better ac countability and more rational service planning and co-ordination based on public control. Considerations for policy, and its implementation by commissioners and devolved purchasers, are also identified.