Campaigners call on devolved government to ring fence funding

21/04/2008

Disabled children and their families in Scotland and Wales may miss out on improved access to short breaks and other services because the devolved administrations have not ring fenced funding from the UK government according to campaigning group, Every Disabled Child Matters.

In an article in Community Care Magazine, Steve Broach, campaign manager for Every Disabled Child Matters warns that the £34m earmarked for Scotland and £21m for Wales will not reach disabled children.

He said there are inadequate incentives for councils to prioritise the group, unlike in England, where authorities can be assessed against a performance indicator measuring parents’ experiences of services and the extent to which provision meets core standards.

You can read the Community Care article in full here.

Capability Scotland is working with the Scottish Government to address these concerns.  As part of the campaigning group, For All Scotland's Disabled Children (FSDC), we have had some discussion with Scotland’s Minister for Children and Young People, Adam Ingram, and his Directorate about these issues. 

Faye Gatenby, Capability Scotland’s Campaigns, Parliamentary and Policy Manager said: “The UK government earmarked the £34 million for disabled children and their families as a direct result of the campaigning efforts of this group.  The government must lead the way in ensuring that this money is spent improving services across Scotland.  So far we have seen nothing in the concordat or the National Performance Framework that reassures us that services for disabled children, young people and their families will receive the promised transformation.”

FSDC is led by Capability Scotland, Contact a Family, CCNUK, Family Fund and the Scottish Society for Autism.  Find out more here.

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