Helen Hayes – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Helen Hayes on 2015-10-19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make it her policy to require local authorities to publish data on (a) the number of families with disabled children in their area, (b) how many such families access short breaks provided by the local authority, by category of break, in each local authority area and (c) the levels of short breaks provided in each such area.

Edward Timpson

Local authorities are already under a duty under the Children Act 1989 to maintain a register of disabled children in their area. It must be open for any disabled child (as defined in section 17(11) of the Children Act 1989) to join the register, whether on their own request or through their parents.

Since 2011, local authorities have also been under a duty to provide a range of short break services and to publish a local Short Breaks Duty Statement showing what services are available; how they are responding to the needs of local parent carers; and how short breaks can be accessed, including any eligibility criteria.