<p>According to research published in December the number of people with learning disabilities who need social care is growing up to five and a half times faster than the government has planned for. The research, commissioned by the Learning Disability Coalition and Mencap, suggests that there will be an 87 per cent rise in the number of people needing support by 2026. This works out at an annual rate of increase of between 3.2 per cent and 5.5 per cent over the period 2009-2026, compared with a 1 per cent figure used by the Department of Health (DH).</p>