Every Disabled Child Matters
c/o Council for Disabled Children
National Children's Bureau
8 Wakley Street
London EC1V 7QE
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Bill launched to give families a right to a break

21 November 2006

Campaign calls for new law to give 100,000 families with disabled children a right to a break from caring

At the Every Disabled Child Matters parliamentary launch today (21 November), over 50 MPs are expected to back a new bill designed to give disabled children and their families the legal right to short break care. The Disabled Children’s Short Breaks Bill, if it became law, would ensure a specific duty is placed on Local Authorities and the NHS to provide appropriate short break care for 100,000 families with disabled children who provide a substantial level of ongoing care.

CAF_Swing Jo Williams, Mencap’s chief executive and Every Disabled Child Matters spokesperson said: “At present the delivery of government’s strategy towards disabled children and their families is dire. Eighty per cent of families are reaching breaking point and still funding for short break services for disabled children are being cut. We need proper funding to ensure the system is fully transformed so that people can access short break care when and where they need it.”

The Disabled Children’s Short Breaks Bill follows on from an earlier Bill introduced by Ed Balls MP, now Economic Secretary at HM Treasury and a key supporter of the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign. The new Bill will amend the Children’s Act 1989, the Carers Act 1995 and the Childcare Act 2006 to make certain that the rights of disabled children to short break care are set out in law.

The campaign is calling for backbench MPs to support the Bill and to enter the forthcoming Private Member’s Bill ballot for the campaign, so that, if chosen in the ballot, they will have the opportunity to introduce the Bill into Parliament.

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.

The publication of the Disabled Children’s Short Breaks Bill is the centrepiece of the parliamentary launch of the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign, taking place at 4pm in the House of Commons. The event is hosted by Sylvia Heal MP and features presentations by Jo Williams and Prof. Sir Ian Kennedy in support of the campaign.

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� National Children's Bureau 2006 � Reg Charity No. 258825