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National Children's Bureau
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Jeremy Hunt MP: "The way we look after families with disabled children is an absolute disgrace"
All parties supporting campaign to get rights and justice for every disabled child
Media Release - for immediate release
3 October 2006
At the Conservative conference fringe yesterday (Monday 2 October 2006), shadow Ministers Jeremy Hunt MP and Maria Miller MP gave their support to the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign objectives. This follows declarations of support from Ed Balls MP for Labour and Annette Brooke MP for the Liberal Democrats.
Jeremy Hunt told the Conservative fringe meeting, ‘we absolutely support the objectives of the campaign. What you are trying to do is incredibly important. We together will transform the lives of some of the most vulnerable families’.
Brian Lamb OBE, Chair of the Special Education Consortium, who spoke at yesterday’s event, comments:
‘We are delighted that right from the word go, all the political parties are supporting our campaign. Our objectives are simple - an end to poverty in families with disabled children, an education system that meets the needs of each disabled child and the right support for all families, no matter where they live. We will be working now with all the parties to translate their support into specific policy commitments that will make a real difference to the lives of every disabled child.’
Jeremy Hunt MP told the meeting, ‘The way we look after families with disabled children is an absolute disgrace…the plight of disabled children and their families must be at the heart of Conservative social policy. He described how families’ lives are ‘turned upside down’ by the system’s failure to provide them with appropriate support. He continued - ‘parents want to put all their energies into bringing up their child - we make them put all their energies into fighting the system’.
Outlining emerging Conservative policy in relation to disabled children, Jeremy Hunt discussed the need for a single assessment process and for the statementing system in special education to be reformed. Maria Miller MP highlighted the need for improved teacher training and earlier intervention to meet the needs of young disabled children.
Concluding his remarks, Jeremy Hunt called for the right support for ‘parents who just want to be parents, families who just want to be families and kids who want the fulfilled childhood they truly deserve’.
Following the conference launch events, Every Disabled Child Matters is calling for 10,000 supporters to sign up at our campaign website - www.edcm.org.uk - and is promoting our campaign briefing, Between a rock and a hard place, which shows that the national childcare strategy is failing disabled children. The next wave of Every Disabled Child Matters campaign activity will focus on local authorities, including the launch of a local authority charter (week commencing 16th October).
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ENDS
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Notes to Editors:
For photographs of Jeremy Hunt MP and Maria Miller MP speaking at the launch event, information on Every Disabled Child Matters, media copies of Between a rock and a hard place or to arrange interviews and/or case studies, please contact:
Steve Broach, Campaign Manager, Every Disabled Child Matters
07879 638 102
[email protected]
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.
Between a rock and a hard place highlights that childcare for disabled children is neither fit for purpose nor affordable. The Childcare Act 2006 offers the promise of more childcare places and introduces specific duties for disabled children. However government will fail to deliver the promise for disabled children without additional funding to increase the supply and affordability of childcare places and so help families with a disabled child lift themselves out of poverty. The campaign briefing makes specific recommendations to central and local government to deliver appropriate childcare and remove the barriers to employment experienced by parents of disabled children.
In response to Between a rock and a hard place, the campaign is calling for:
- A national disability childcare fund to develop a skilled workforce and increase the supply of childcare places
- A new target for Local Area Agreements to increase the stock and take up of childcare by families with a disabled child
- Every local authority to develop and implement a local disability childcare strategy, based on an audit of demand and unmet need
The Between a rock and a hard place campaign briefing and flyer are funded by the European Social Fund under the Equal Community.
Following the launch, Every Disabled Child Matters will bring forward a Private Member’s Bill to create a minimum entitlement to short breaks for families with disabled children. This will be based on the Bill introduced by Ed Balls in the last parliamentary session. The campaign is already supporting both the current government review of services for disabled children, and the parliamentary hearings that have run alongside this review.
There is significant research and policy evidence to show that disabled children and their families experience multiple disadvantages compared to other children and their families. For example, disabled children are 13 times more likely to be excluded from school than other children.
A report by the Audit Commission in 2003 stated that ‘the time for a major turnaround in disabled children’s services is long overdue. The urgency of the situation is growing. Not only are some services provided at unacceptably low standards, but the prevalence of certain needs is increasing. Without change, the situation can only get worse.’
