HM TREASURY News
Release (58/07) issued by The Government News Network on 21 May 2007
An ambitious
package of policies to support disabled children and their
families was announced today by Economic Secretary Ed Balls and
Education Minister Lord Adonis, as they published the report
Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for Families.
Part of the wider Policy Review of Children and Young People.
Recognising the critical role that public services can play in
promoting the chances of disabled children, the Review commits the
Government to boosting the provision of vital services and giving
parents of disabled children a real choice in how they are
delivered, underpinned by over £340 million of investment.
The Review sets out clear action across health, social services
and education, to provide a better coordinated approach to service
provision, and enhance equality and opportunity for disabled
children and their families. It focuses on three priority areas:
access and empowerment, response services and timely suppor, and
improving quality and capacity of services.
The Review will announce:
* £280m over the next three years to fund short breaks for
disabled children, enabling them to experience new things and for
their parents to have a break. This works out as an extra 40,000
fortnightly short breaks for severely disabled children and their families.
* £35m to fund a pilot project to provide accessible childcare,
promote training, and tackle other barriers to accessing
childcare. Accessible childcare is vital to help parents, and to
improve disabled children's social, behavioural and
educational development.
* £19m for a Transition Support Programme to promote intensive,
wrap around support, and consolidate person-centred planning at
the critical transition to adulthood, a key point in the lives of
disabled young people.
* £5m to allow parents of disabled children to get involved in
shaping services at a local level, including through parents
forums to ensure that disabled children and their families are
supported and empowered.
* Radical reform in the coordination and provision of community
equipment and wheelchairs to maximise disabled children's
mobility, allowing them to access schools, leisure facilities and
other services more easily (e.g. making access to equipment faster
and providing more choice).
* To make disabled children a priority at a local and national
level, the Government will develop a national indicator as part of
the PSA set, underpinned by a "core offer" to help
disabled young people and their parents understand what support
they can get and how to access it across local services.
* To prevent interventions coming too late at important stages of
a disabled child's life or development, the Government will
provide specific resource for evaluation and benchmarking good
practice on early intervention for disabled children and their
families as part of the work of the new Centre for Excellence for
Children and Family Services.
Ed Balls said:
"The Government believes that every child matters. This
Review will take us closer to achieving our aim of ensuring that
every disabled child can have the best possible start in life, and
the support they and their families need to make equality of
opportunity a reality, allowing each and every child to fulfill
their potential.
"Today we announce a set of actions that will make a real
difference to all disabled children and their families, with £340m
over the next three years to improve vital services that will
enhance their lives, underpinned by reform to make disabled
children a national priority.
"This Government's long-term goal is to transform the
chances of disabled children and their families. This can't
be done overnight - there is no magic wand to wave. But
today's report makes a very significant step forward to
meeting that goal, and will make a real difference over the coming years."
Lord Adonis, said:
"The recommendations in this Review are going to transform
the way that services are delivered to disabled children and their
families. Increased numbers of short breaks for disabled children
will give them the opportunity to have the sort of experience that
other children have, and will make an enormous difference to
thousands of families. I thank all the young people, their
families and the stakeholders whose hard work and participation
has helped bring about this review."
NOTES TO EDITORS
1. A joint HM Treasury and Department for Education and Skills
report, Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support for
Families has examined how to improve outcomes and life chances of
disabled children through the development of effective and
accessible services for disabled children (0-19) and their families.
2. It is part of the wider Policy Review of Children and Young
People, with the purpose of assessing progress made to improve
outcomes and what further action needs to be taken as part of the
2007 Comprehensive Spending Review.
3. The £340 million of investment in services for disabled
children forms part of the 2.5 per cent a year rise in education
spending in England announced in the 2006 Budget.
4. There are around 570,000 disabled children in England. Around
100,000 disabled children are severely disabled.
5. The Review consulted with a wide range of stakeholders,
including disabled children and young people, their parents, the
voluntary sector, professionals and parliamentarians through a
series of Parliamentary Hearings.
6. Non-media enquiries should be addressed to the Treasury
Correspondence and Enquiry Unit on 020 7270 4558, or by e-mail to public.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk
7. The report Aiming High for Disabled Children: Better Support
for Families is available on the Treasury website at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/spending_review/spend_csr07/reviews/cyp_review/cypreview_index.cfm
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