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c/o Council for Disabled Children
National Children's Bureau
8 Wakley Street
London EC1V 7QE
tel +44 (0)20 7843 6448
fax +44 (0)20 7843 6313
[email protected]
New Deal for Carers - but families with disabled children need planned short breaks
21 February 2007
Campaign calls for planned, sustainable short breaks as a priority for families
The Every Disabled Child Matters campaign today welcomes the government's New Deal for Carers, but calls on politicians not to lose sight of what really matters for families with disabled children - planned, sustainable short breaks from caring.
The New Deal for Carers comprises a £33 million package of support and services - £25 million for local authorities to provide emergency respite, £3 million for a national advice and information service and £5 million for a training programme for carers.
Francine Bates OBE, Chief Executive of Contact a Family and a member of the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign board, comments:
‘Emergency respite will always be necessary in crisis situations but should not be seen as an alternative to planned regular short breaks for families with disabled children. The funding being announced today is welcome but will not go very far towards meeting the needs of the 100,000 families with severely disabled children who need regular breaks. Government have recognised through its own review of disabled children that short breaks are a priority - which is why we hope they will support Gary Streeter's private members bill on short breaks being debated this Friday.’
The Disabled Children (Family Support) Bill has its Second Reading in the House of Commons this Friday (23 February). If it became law, the Bill would create a specific duty on local authorities and health agencies to provide short breaks for families with the most severely disabled children - about 100,000 families in England and Wales.
The government's ongoing review of disabled children's services has been informed by the Parliamentary Hearings on Services for Disabled Children, which were led by MPs Tom Clarke and Joan Humble in 2006. The hearings found that short breaks were the number one priority for families with disabled children, and the report from the hearings recommended significant investment in short break services.
Official government figures show that only 6% of families with disabled children currently receive any sort of regular support service. A report from Mencap's Breaking Point campaign in 2006* found that 8 in 10 families with severely disabled children described themselves as at, or close to, breaking point. Of families receiving short breaks, 1 in 3 had experienced a cut in services in the last year.
-Ends-
For media enquiries and copies of the Disabled Children (Family Support) Bill and accompanying briefing, please contact Jaine Barry in the Mencap Press Office on: 0207 696 5603 or at [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.
Contact a Family is the leading organisation supporting parents and carers with disabled children in the UK.
The Disabled Children (Family Support) Bill covers England and Wales. If it became law, it would:
- impose specific duties on local authorities and health agencies to provide short breaks for families who provide a substantial level of care on a regular basis.
- amend the recent Childcare Act to require local authorities to secure a sufficient supply of short breaks in their area.
- require the breaks offered to families to be of benefit for the child and their carers, to safeguard against low quality breaks
* Mencap’s Breaking Point - families still need a break survey was carried out between May and July 2006. 353 families from six areas of England and in Northern Ireland took part. The 2006 survey followed up on themes and issues identified in a 2003 survey. The 2006 survey focused on the impact of lack of services and the quality of short break services. The report is available in its entirety at www.mencap.org.uk/breakingpoint
