Selling individual budgets, choice and control: local and global influences on UK social care policy for people with learning difficulties

A range of national and international actors and networks have claimed to support the interests of people with learning difficulties over the last 30 years. This article examines their influence on UK policy for people with learning difficulties, with a particular focus on the recent policy shift towards individualised support and personalisation. Policy changes and developments within the UK are considered in the context of similar developments internationally and the article questions the extent to which personalisation can be sustained in the face of the scale and economic rationality of global markets. Finally, an alternative, more accountable, model of individualised support is proposed.