Mencap collars minister on funding

Disabled children’s charities challenged Treasury minister Ed Balls to provide more funding for disabled children’s childcare.

Jo Williams, head of Mencap, spoke out at a fringe event to launch the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign for more rights and support for disabled children.

A report published as part of the campaign claimed the childcare strategy was failing disabled children, saying provision was “neither fit for purpose nor affordable”.

Williams told Balls that although the Childcare Act 2006 placed a duty on councils to provide childcare for disabled children, this would mean nothing if it was not backed by extra government funding.

In response to the report, the campaign, which is being run by Contact a Family, the Council for Disabled Children, Mencap and the Special Education Consortium, recommended that local area agreements should include a new target to increase the stock and take-up of childcare for disabled children.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

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