Parents of disabled children slam social services

Eight out of ten parents of disabled children consider social services to be poor, according to a parliamentary inquiry published today.

The cross-party study into services for disabled children found evidence of rising eligibility criteria and parents being turned away for short-term breaks by councils.

Lack of funding was deemed the biggest barrier to improving services by 61 per cent of the 148 parents 74 per cent of the 108 professionals who gave evidence to the MPs.

The report, which will feed into the government’s current review of children and young people’s services called for significant extra resources for disabled children and their families and a statutory minimum entitlement to short-break services.

The inquiry was backed by the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign run by charities Contact a Family, the Council for Disabled Children, Mencap and the Special Educational Consortium.

It was published on the same day as campaigners for inclusive education marched on Whitehall to urge the government to clarify its support for including disabled children in mainstream education.