Pledge to disabled children reaffirmed by Treasury’s Ed Balls

A Treasury minister yesterday reiterated the government’s commitment to improving the lot of disabled children and their families in the next comprehensive spending review.

Economics secretary Ed Balls, a prominent champion of disabled children, laid out how the current Treasury-led review of children and young people’s services which will feed into the review in the summer, may benefit the group.

He told MPs that improving transitions to adulthood would be a priority, alongside more service capacity and consistency. There would be a boost for joint working between councils and primary care trusts and extra support for parents.

He said the review would respond specifically to recommendations made in a parliamentary inquiry last year, organised as part of the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign.

Balls added: “I hope that we will respond in a way that gives hope and some certainty of improved services in the future to the families of disabled children.”