Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress his Department has made in reducing the backlog in disabled children’s social care services.

Social care services, including those for disabled children and their families, are provided on the basis of an individual assessment of each child and family’s needs.

The department has not conducted an assessment of national waiting times for children’s social care services. The government believes it is right for local authorities, who know their areas’ needs best, to determine what services are required locally, including disabled children’s social care services.

This year councils have access to £51.3 billion to deliver their core services, including a £1.7 billion grant for social care. The government has also given over £6 billion in unringfenced funding directly to councils to support them with the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures, including children’s services.

The department will continue to work with other government departments, including the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, to ensure the needs of children’s services are reflected.

In addition to statutory services, the department is providing £27.3 million to the Family Fund in the 2021-22 financial year to support over 60,000 families on low incomes raising children and young people with disabilities or serious illnesses. Grants can be used for a range of purposes, including family breaks.