Children: Disability

(asked on 21st October 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to implement increased access to respite care for parents and families of disabled children during the covid-19 outbreak.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 27th October 2020

Supporting the most vulnerable children and young people is a priority for us, especially at this time. We know that this period is particularly hard for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), their families, and those who support them.

Short breaks (or ‘respite care’) are funded opportunities for disabled children and young people to be cared for away from their family homes, which local authorities have a statutory duty to provide.

Local authorities have been allocated a further £4.6 billion to help their communities through the COVID-19 outbreak. This funding is un-ringfenced, recognising that local authorities are best placed to decide how to meet the major COVID-19 service pressures in their local area. This funding can support local authorities to deliver their respite offers (in line with their existing duties) and to address increased costs.

We have also committed, this year, £37.3 million (including £10 million in response to the COVID-19 outbreak) to the Family Fund, which provides grants to low-income families caring for disabled children or seriously ill children, including for family breaks.

We have gathered more detailed examples of innovative ways of delivering short breaks during the COVID-19 outbreak, including using direct payments and carrying out virtual direct activities. We have communicated best practice to Directors of Children's Services and encouraged local authorities to adopt a flexible approach, to ensure that as many disabled children and young people as possible can continue to access these respite services during the COVID-19 outbreak.

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