Media Release - for immediate release
Every Child Matters - so why is the national childcare strategy failing disabled children?
21 September 2006
At the Every Disabled Child Matters launch event at next week’s Labour conference (Tuesday 26th September), Jo Williams, Mencap Chief Executive, will challenge Labour politicians, including Economic Secretary Ed Balls MP, over findings that the government’s national childcare strategy is failing disabled children. The evidence for this is set out in the new Every Disabled Child Matters campaign briefing, Between a rock and a hard place.
Every Disabled Child Matters is a new campaign aimed at getting rights and justice for every disabled child. Francine Bates, Chief Executive of Contact a Family, comments:
‘Families with disabled children face a huge struggle getting the support they need to lead an ordinary family life. Many families face poverty and hardship. Parents are often unable to work because employers are inflexible or they cannot find suitable childcare. We must urgently address this deep injustice and really ensure that every disabled child matters.’
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.
Jo Williams, Mencap Chief Executive, comments:
‘Too many parents of disabled children find themselves ‘Between a rock and a hard place’ - caught between a lack of provision of appropriate childcare and the high costs of any services that are available. There are new childcare duties for local authorities, but they will mean nothing for disabled children unless they are resourced and local authorities start taking the needs of families with disabled children seriously.’
In response to Between a rock and a hard place, the campaign is calling for:
The campaign website - www.edcm.org.uk - goes live on 26th September. The aim is for 10,000 individuals to register their support for the campaign by Christmas 2006. The campaign has been boosted by the news that Ed Balls MP, Economic Secretary to HM Treasury, will speak for the Government at the launch event at Labour conference.
For copies of Between a rock and a hard place contact:
Kate Williams, Campaign Assistant, Every Disabled Child Matters
020 7843 6448
[email protected]
Copies of Between a rock and a hard place can be downloaded from our website: www.edcm.org.uk
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Notes to Editors:
For further information on Every Disabled Child Matters, for 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
020 7843 6082 / 07879 638 102
[email protected]
The Between a rock and a hard place campaign briefing and flyer are funded by the European Social Fund under the Equal Community.
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.
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.’