Services for Disabled Children

Latest news about local and national developments for disabled children and their families

Sandwell's Short Breaks Services Statement and Eligibility Criteria for Short Breaks

30th September 2011

Regulations produced by the Government, which came into force on the 1st April 2011, require local authorities to produce a statement of the range of short break services available to the families of disabled children. This short breaks services statement must be published along with the eligibility criteria by which these services can be accessed by the 1st October.

The Short Breaks Services Statement  is available by clicking here.

The eligibility criteria document is available by clicking here. 

Government Consultation on Auxiliary Aids for Disabled Children in Schools

23rd september 2011

The Government is currently consulting on implementing the requirement for schools and local authorities to make reasonable adjustments to provide auxiliary aids for disabled children under the Equality Act 2010. An amendment was made to the Act so that schools would no longer be exempt from the duty to provide auxiliary aids and services. The consultation is about how this duty will be implemented and how the responsibilities in this area will be divided between schools and the Local Authority.

This will have implications for the future provision of auxiliary aids and services in schools and the Government is looking to hear from a wide range of interested parties so that these provisions can be enacted effectively.

The consultation can be accessed on the Department for Education website.

More Disabled Children Enjoy Short Breaks and Parent Forums Become More Active

30th August 2011

The Government has just published a report detailing a significant increase in the number of disabled children taking part in short breaks along with evidence of the growing success of parent forums across the country.

The report, Towards an Ordinary Life, produced by Together for Disabled children on behalf of the Department for Education shows that more than 160,000 disabled children are now accessing short breaks.

You can access the press release as well as a copy of the report on the Department for Education website.

Government Consults on Changes to School Funding

26th August 2011

The government is currently consulting about changes to the way schools are funded. This is in the context of the increase in the number of new Academies and the creation of new Free Schools. Any changes could have implications for the funding of support for pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in schools and for the funding of SEN support services which offer support to schools. You can have your say on the proposed changes on the Department for Education website. The consultation closes on the 11th October 2011.

Contracts for Short Break Services Extended to 30th September 2011

3rd June 2011

To ensure continuity, and to allow for the proper commissioning of new services with the Early Intervention Grant, the contracts for some of the short break services funded through the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme have been extended until the 30th September 2011. The process of tendering for the new services will start shortly and the new services will start on the 1st October. When details of the new services are available they will appear on the short breaks page.

Disabled Young People Produce Video to Describe Their Experiences of Discrimination

3rd June 2011

Six disabled young people have produced a video explaining the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Working with the charity Whizz Kidz they set about describing their experiemces of discrimination both in and out of school. They presented the video to Health Minister, Maria Millier who said it was an opportunity for the government to review how disabled children and young people are supported to participate fully in the education system.

You can watch the video by clicking here. 

Consultation Period on Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Disability Green Paper Will End on 30th June

3rd June 2011

Just under four weeks remains for you to submit your views on the Government's plans for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities. These are important and wide-ranging plans and it is vital that a wide range of responses is submitted. You can submit your response to the consultation by going to the consultation pages of the Department for Education website.  

Government Will Continue to Fund Parent Forums

March 18th 2011

As part of the Government's proposals for children with special educational needs and disability set out in the recent Green Paper, the Department for Education has indicated that it will continue to fund local parent forums so that the good work started under the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme can continue.

Each local area will be able to bid for a grant of up to £10,000 to support work in 2011/12. The Government is currently deciding on who will be its partner for this work and, as soon as that process is finalised, details of the bid process will be made public.

Government Publishes Special Educational Needs (SEN) and Disability Green Paper

March 9th 2011

The Government has now published its proposals for overhauling the system through which families of children and young people with SEN and disabilities receive their support. The Green Paper entitled 'Support and Aspiration: A New Approach to Special Educational Needs and Disability' gives details of how the Government intends to:

• reduce bureaucracy
• improve transparency in how resources are allocated
• abolish the categories of school action and school action plus and replace them with one SEN category that will cover both early years settings and schools
• simplify the assessment process by replacing statements of special educational need with one assessment that will cover support from education, health and social care. The Government intends to introduce these Education, Health and Care Plans by 2014
• make assessments more independent by exploring whether voluntary and community organisations could co-ordinate them
• give parents and families a greater degree of control of their services by introducing more personal budgets
• improve the support for young people as they move into adulthood
• improve the way agencies work together to support children and families with consideration being given to what role the voluntary and community sector can play

The publication marks the start of a four month consultation period which finishes on the 30th June. A period of testing the proposals in some local authorities will start on the 1st September and any necessary legislation will happen after May 2012.

You can get more more details and download the Green Paper from the Department for Education website.

New Website About Person-Centred Planning Launches

A new website, called Choice + Control, has launched which gives details of resources available to support person-centred planning with disabled people. These resources will be particularly appropriate for supporting young disabled people who are in transition to adulthood.  

Although the site, which isupported by the Office for Disability Issues, is mainly aimed at professionals there is a good deal of information that will be of interest to parents and carers as well as disabled young people themselves.

Visit the Choice + Control website

Recognition of Sandwell's Work on Transition to Adulthood

The national Transition Support Team (TST) has just published the results of its latest assessment of how well Sandwell is working to develop services to support disabled young people who are in transition to adulthood. It has moved us up from band 2 to band 3 (of 4). TST were particularly impressed with the degree of participation and innovation shown in our work. If you would like more details of what the assessments mean you can find these on the Transition Support Team website.

Coalition Government Announces £800 Million for Short Breaks for Disabled Children

The Coalition Government has announced that £800 million will be allocated to support short breaks for disabled children over the next four years. The money will come to local authorities as part of the Early Intervention Grant (EIG) and will be used to help local authorities comply with the new short break duty which starts on 1st April 2011. Unlike the Aiming High for Disabled Children funding the EIG funding is not ring-fenced and local authorities will decide locally how much of the EIG to spend on short breaks. For more information visit the Department for Education website.