LA Charter 2006 - 11

99 Local authorities signed EDCM's original Local Authority (LA) Charter between 2006 - 2011. LAs and parents see the LA Charter as a public statement of the LAs' commitment to improving services for local disabled children and their families.

View a list of the 99 LAs that signed the original LA Charter between 2006 - 11.

The Charter changing services on the ground

Many LAs have signed the Charter at public events and sent out press releases to highlight their commitment. Some local areas choose to re-sign the Charter annually to highlight their continuing commitment and increase the public's awareness that they are working to the Charter's commitments.

"Some children had been refused equipment because they did not fit an outdated criteria which required use both indoors and outdoors. By working in partnership with the PCT, the Parent Carer Council managed to secure a sum of money to provide equipment for children who do not meet the criteria. So far this year 12 children have received equipment who would previously have been refused. This shows that the Every Disabled Child Matters Charter really does have the potential to change the quality of life for children with disabilities in Cornwall." Sandy Lawrence, representative on the Cornwall Parent Carer Council

"Signing up to this charter gives us a clear view of the way forward when it comes to children's services and gives us a cleat timeline of activity. We are currently going through a process where in the next 12 months we will be able to meet all the requirements of the charter". Staffordshire Council's Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Children

The Charter as a benchmark

It has been five years since the launch of the LA Charter. Many of the local areas that committed to the Charter early on have built on the commitments that they made since they signed.

Case Study: York
The City of York signed up to the EDCM Local Authority Charter in 2008 with a commitment to implementing the Charter by December 2008. When they reached this date and had implemented all the Charter commitments they designed a new Charter; ' Every Disabled Child Matters - Our Promise: City of York Charter for Disabled Children 2009-12'. This lays out how the City of York will build on the EDCM Charter to deliver more services and resources to disabled children and their families.

The Charter facilitating joint working

Recent years have seen a move towards PCTs and local authorities signing up to the LA and PCT Charter together. This is seen as a powerful display of joined up working for disabled children's services. EDCM produced a Joint Charter last year which some areas have signed up to. The Joint Charter and PCT will not be reformed at this time because of the closure of PCTs in 2013 and the lack of clarity on where decision making will lie in the future due to the pause in the Health and Social Care Bill.

Case Study: Leicester City Council and Primary Care Trust
Leicester Council and PCT have worked together to produce a joint action plan. Councillor Vi Dempster, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Lead Member for Children says: 'The action plan demonstrates our commitment to disabled children and will ensure that our services in this area continue to improve. The plan commits us to working closely with our partner agencies and has been endorsed by both the local authority and the PCT. Our commitment to participation with both children and parent/carers is also reflected in the plan which is monitored by Leicester Children and Young People's Strategic Partnership.'

Implementing the Charter

EDCM encourages all local authorities that have signed up to the LA Charter to produce an implementation plan. This supports local authorities to be transparent about their timescales and plans for delivering each commitment and enables parents and disabled young people themselves to hold their local authority to account. EDCM have received implementation plans from a quarter of local authorities that are signed up to the Charter.

"The action plan that we have drawn up reflects our commitment to disabled children. We consider the Local Authority Charter so important that, together with our partners, we wrote a multi agency action plan that has been endorsed by and will be monitored by our Children's Trust." Councillor Pat Smith Lead Member for Children's Services in Sunderland

View a selection of LA Charter implementation plans.