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c/o Council for Disabled Children
National Children's Bureau
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Queen's speech - new legislation brings opportunities for disabled children
5 December 2008
EDCM welcomes focus on children, poverty and equality
Every Disabled Child Matters welcomed the Queen’s Speech on Wednesday (3 December), which announced 13 new Bills for the 2008-2009 Parliamentary session.
At least 5 of the Bills have the potential to benefit disabled children and their families:
- The Child Poverty Bill enshrines in law a commitment to eradicate child poverty by 2020. EDCM welcomes this commitment, but supports the Campaign to End Child Poverty who are calling on the government to ‘Keep the Promise’ and bring forward measures to halve child poverty by 2010. As disabled children are disproportionately more likely to live in poverty than other children, EDCM also urges the government to specifically respond to our policy proposals to address the specific needs of disabled children and their families, including through winter fuel payments, an uplift in childcare tax credits and measures to increase the level and take-up of Disability Living Allowance.
- The Welfare Reform Bill aims to improve support and incentives for people to move from benefits into work and to provide greater choice and control for disabled people. Whilst EDCM welcomes the government’s intention to support more people into work, we will be urging the Ministers to ensure that new legislation genuinely does support parents of disabled children into work, many of whom still struggle to secure accessible and affordable childcare.
- The Children, Skills and Learning Bill aims to reform education, training and apprenticeships. EDCM welcomes the focus on developing apprenticeships and wants to see the Bill to deliver more apprenticeship opportunities for disabled young people. We will also want to ensure that reforms in relation to Pupil Referral Units and behaviour and attendance take into account the needs of pupils with special educational needs (SEN), and that the transfer of funding and responsibility for delivering 16-18 education and training to local authorities is streamlined with the SEN funding system.
- The Equality Bill draws together nine major pieces of legislation into a single Act and aims to promote equality and fight discrimination. EDCM will want to ensure that the significant progress made in combating disability discrimination through disability discrimination legislation is not diluted in a single Equality Bill.
- The Health Bill aims to take forward proposals in Lord Darzi's 'NHS Next Stage Review' that require legislation. The Bill establishes an NHS constitution, setting out the ‘core principles’ of the NHS, and the government has stated that the public would become more involved in primary care trust management and in the management of their own care. EDCM will want to ensure that families with disabled children are able to shape local health services and that they can access both specialist and universal health services that meet their needs.
EDCM urges all MPs to make sure the rights and interests of disabled children and their families are promoted and protected in all this legislation.
More from EDCM
News story: Minister launches Transition Support Programme
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News story: Family Fund Extra launched
