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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
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Children's Fund - �396 million for 2008-11 confirmed
In a major speech hosted by the National Children's Bureau yesterday evening, Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, confirmed that the Children's Fund will continue for a further three years with an investment of £396 million.
Christine Lenehan, Director of the Council for Disabled Children and Board Member of Every Disabled Child Matters, comments:
'This is excellent news, as so many of the key services for disabled children and their families are underpinned by Children's Fund money. This announcement should mean that there is no reason for Local Authorities to try to use the new funding announced in Aiming High for Disabled Children just to maintain existing levels of service. We share the government's determination that the new money must equal new services and support for children and families.'
Ed Balls further announced £60 million to support schools to work with mental health practitioners to improve the emotional wellbeing of pupils. The speech also saw the launch of a major new Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) consultation, 'Staying Safe'. The Secretary of State also confirmed that his Department will now have dual responsibility for children's play with the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. He described the new DCSF as 'the national platform to take Every Child Matters to the next level, and really transform the way we support children.'
Disabled children figured prominently in the Secretary of State's speech, and he drew on the experiences of families involved in the disabled children's review to highlight the need to shift to prevention from a crisis management approach.
Questions from Disability Equality in Education on the need to preserve the Disabiltiy Equality Duty and from the Family Fund on disabled children's right to play also kept disability issues high on Ed Balls' agenda.
More from EDCM:
Full text of Ed Balls speech
NCB news story on Ed Balls speech
News story: MPs congratulate Ministers but urge them to aim higher still
News story: EDCM welcomes Ministers' reappointment
News story: Ed Balls: DCSF will be 'the Every Disabled Child Matters department'
