<p>Learning disability services are facing a major demographic crisis. One of the biggest worries for family carers is what will happen when they are no longer able to care for their relative with a learning disability. This is a huge area of unmet need. The Valuing People White Paper states that one third of people with learning disabilities living in the family home are living with a carer aged 70 or over (DoH 2001a). They have often been caring for decades with very little, if any support from statutory services. As a result, many older families are hidden from services and will only become known when there is a crisis, when a family carer dies or becomes too frail to continue.</p>