Disabled children win out in Private Members' Bill Ballot

24 November 2006

Gary Streeter MP takes up EDCM's short breaks Bill to give families with disabled children new rights to a break from caring

700,000 families with disabled children can hope for new rights to a break from caring this morning, as Every Disabled Child Matters announces that Gary Streeter MP has pledged his support for the campaign's Disabled Children (Family Support) Bill.

Gary Streeter MP (Cons, Devon SW) was drawn fourth in yesterday’s parliamentary ballot for Private Members' Bills, meaning that the Disabled Children (Family Support) Bill is guaranteed parliamentary time and will be debated in Parliament in January. Cross-party support is expected for the Bill, which will be co-sponsored by Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs.

Gary Streeter MP pledged his support for the Bill after attending the Every Disabled Child Matters parliamentary launch (Tuesday 21 Nov). He comments:

‘All MPs receive visits from parents and carers of disabled children in our surgeries seeking help to get a short break from their 24/7 caring for their loved one. Yet all too often there is no respite care available. I believe we can and must do better than that and this Bill will try and fill the gap. I strongly support the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign.’

EDCM would like to thank local campaigners around the country for emailing their MPs asking them to support the Bill. Over 1,000 EDCM supporters took part in the online campaign action through our Get involved page, which resulted in a surge of expressions of support from MPs.

The need for the Bill was highlighted by a recent Breaking Point survey by Mencap, which found that 8 out of 10 carers of disabled children have felt close to, or reached, breaking point because of a lack of support. The same survey found that a third of families had experienced a reduction in the level of short break care they receive during the past year. Through an ongoing government review of services for disabled children, the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign is lobbying for a minimum spend of £150 million per year for the next three years, as a starting point to help transform short break services and provide value-for-money preventative support, rather than existing crisis management services.