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c/o Council for Disabled Children
National Children's Bureau
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London EC1V 7QE
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info@edcm.org.uk
Call for families to test law on short breaks
EDCM Media Release
Embargoed until 00.01 Tuesday 8 January 2008
Contact Louise Franklin T: 020 7843 6108 E: louise@edcm.org.uk
Every Disabled Child Matters is calling for families with disabled children who have been refused support by their local authority to come forward to take part in a groundbreaking wave of legal test cases. The cases are based on a legal opinion from expert community care lawyers which suggests that, in certain situations, families with disabled children may already have a legal right to short breaks.
The campaign is emailing its supporter base of 28,000 supporters to encourage families who have been denied support to come forward and take legal advice on bringing a case. Families are being encouraged to call the Contact a Family free phone helpline on 0808 808 3555 to get further advice.
Families with disabled children have repeatedly reported that short breaks are their number one service priority – yet currently, only 1 in 13 families receive any kind of support service. EDCM therefore believes that families with disabled children should have a clear legal right to short breaks to enable them to keep caring.
The campaign instructed two leading community care lawyers, Paul Bowen and Luke Clements, to provide a legal opinion. The lawyers advised that there is a 'strong argument' that a legal right to short breaks for families with disabled children in the greatest need already exists in England and Wales. However, they emphasise the ‘extraordinary complexity of the current legislative regime and the extreme difficulties some families face in accessing vital support services…’ Alongside EDCM, they recommend reform of the law: ‘reform that clarifies, simplifies and underpins the rights of disabled children and their family carers.’
EDCM is looking for families who have been assessed as needing short break services but have been refused these services, for example on resource grounds. Families will also need to be on a low income and eligible for legal aid, so that the costs of the case will be covered.
Steve Broach, Campaign Manager for EDCM, comments:
‘In response to EDCM campaigning, the government has invested an extra £370 million in short break services over the next three years. This money is extremely welcome - but it will not last forever. To reinforce this improvement, we also want a legal guarantee that families will get the support they need. The legal opinion suggests that thousands of families with disabled children have been denied services which may have been theirs by right. That is why we are urging our supporters to come forward to bring a case to court to test the current state of the law.’
- ENDS -
Notes to Editors:
For media enquiries and to arrange interviews with campaign spokespeople, please contact the EDCM campaign team on 020 7843 6108 or 07962 335145 or at louise@edcm.org.uk
Paul Bowen is a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers, specialising in community care law amongst other practice areas. His primary focus is in the area of healthcare, community care and mental health, including issues around the use of detention and compulsion. Paul has been in many of the leading cases in healthcare and human rights, including HL v United Kingdom in the European Court of Human Rights and a number of cases in the House of Lords (Munjaz, R (MH) v Secretary of State for Health, Von Brandenburg, and Bournewood). Paul has a particular interest in the rights of children and adults with disabilities, regularly advising and appearing in cases engaging both public and private law. Paul is the author of the Blackstone's Guide to the Mental Health Act 2007.
Luke Clements is Professor of Law at Cardiff University, a Consultant Solicitor at Scott-Moncrieff, Harbour & Sinclair, Solicitors. Luke specialises in public and human rights proceedings on behalf of socially excluded groups, primarily disabled people and Roma. Luke is a leading expert on UK community care law and the rights of disabled people to social and health care support and has been involved in the drafting of Private Members Bills relating to the rights of carers, notably the Bills that became the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995 and most recently the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004. Luke is joint author of both Community Care & the Law (Legal Action Group) and Disabled Children and the Law (Jessica Kingsley Publishers).
You can see EDCM’s related media release on publication of the legal opinion on 13 November 2007.
The government has invested £370 million in short break services over the next three years through commitments made in Aiming High for Disabled Children and the Children’s Plan.
Every Disabled Child Matters is a campaign by four organisations working with disabled children and their families: Contact a Family, Council for Disabled Children, Mencap and the Special Educational Consortium. It is a three-year campaign funded by a grant from the True Colours Trust, a Sainsbury’s family trust.
Contact a Family is the leading organisation supporting parents and carers with disabled children in the UK. The Council for Disabled Children is the voice of the disabled children’s sector. It brings together the widest range of individuals and organisations with an interest in disabled children. Mencap is the UK's leading learning disability charity working with people with a learning disability and their families and carers. The Special Educational Consortium is a network of the Council for Disabled Children, focussing on special educational needs and disability issues in education policy and practice.
