CC LIVE: Parmjit Dhanda announces short-break plans for families with disabled children

The government will announce plans to provide short breaks for families with disabled children this Monday, junior children’s minister Parmjit Dhanda told Community Care LIVE today.

Dhanda said the proposals, which campaigners for disabled children and their families have long called for, would be included in a report from a Treasury-led review of children and young people’s services.

He said it would also include measures on increasing the accessibility of childcare for disabled children’s families.

In February, the government refused on cost grounds to back a private member’s bill that would have placed duties on councils and health bodies to provide short breaks for families with disabled children. The bill was backed by the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign, which is lobbying for better services for the group.

However, care services minister Ivan Lewis then promised to bring forward plans on short breaks, as part of this year’s comprehensive spending review, which the Treasury children’s review is designed to feed into.
 
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Children’s Services

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 Mithran Samuel