Ed Balls MP, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, announced (15th May 2008) a major package of support for disabled children and their families at a national conference as part of the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme.  ED Balls MP was joined by Ivan Lewis MP, Care Services Minister and Andrew Adonis, Minister for Schools, as they outlined their proposals for building on Aiming High for Disabled Children.  Other key annoucments of the day included:

• The publication of anti-bullying guidance for schools designed to tackle bullying of disabled children
• A new ‘Core Offer’ for families with disabled children.
• The first wave of pilots for the £35 million Disabled Children's Access to Childcare Project.
• A new body - called "Together for Disablied Children" bringing together Serco and Contact a Family to support the delivery of short breaks and parent forums.
• New programme documents for parents and children and young people, and a new section of the Every Child Matters website for parents and professionals
  

Pilot Areas
The first wave of pilots for the Disabled Children’s Access to Childcare project will to run in ten areas: Northumberland, Sefton, Bradford, Nottinghamshire, Solihull, Luton, Barking & Dagenham, Camden, Oxfordshire and Cornwall. These areas will each get a share of an extra £35 million from 2008 to 2011.

The pilots will look at a range of issues including: the shortage of childcare places for disabled children, shortage of breakfast and after school places and holiday clubs; lack of appropriately skilled staff; high costs of childcare;and slow assessments.

Together for Disabled Children.
Government also announced a new coalition between Serco and Contact a Family to form a new national support body: Together for Disabled Children. The body will help Local Authorities and PCTs to provide short breaks for families with disabled children and will also help to develop parent forums and promote parental engagement in local decision making around disability issues. The short breaks work will focus on the 21 pathfinders announced in January as well as wider work across all areas so significant improvements can be made in the quantity and quality of short breaks on offer.

A Core Offer
The Core Offer is a new national statement of what every child, young person and their family has a right to expect from their local services. It is based on five core principles of transparency, information, assessment, participation and feedback. Local Authorities and PCTs are expected to use the national Core Offer to develop their local services.

The Department for Children, Schools and Families and Department of Health have produced a programme summary document  and a new section on the Every Child Matters website to give parents and professionals more information about this.

Speaking at the launch Ivan Lewis said:

"We want children with disabilities to get the best possible start in life and it is important that families with disabled children know what to expect from services nationally and locally and understand how decisions are made. The core offer will empower parents by improving the information they receive and ensuring greater transparency of decision making. We want to see the NHS listening to them individually and through Local Information Networks and Parent Forums; ensuring that their views, ideas and experiences shape services."

Visit the Every Child Matters/Aiming High webpages 

Download Ed Balls Conference Speech