Memorandum submitted by Contact a Family
1. INTRODUCTION
Contact a Family welcomed the overarching generic
proposals within the Green Paper "Every Child Matters"
of:
— supporting parents and carers;
— early intervention and effective
protection;
— accountability and integration—locally,
regionally and nationally;
We share the government's vision for better,
more joined up services for all children. Although the primary
concentration is on service provision for children, there is a
commitment to support parents and carers, which we welcome.
Improving outcomes for all children and reducing
social exclusion is a laudable aim. Disabled children and their
families routinely face isolation and exclusion from all aspects
of ordinary life. 55 percent of disabled children grow up in or
on the margins of poverty. We know that three quarters of disabled
children live in poor or unsuitable housing. We know that they
experience childhoods which are impoverished of access to leisure
and play. Families from minority ethnic communities face even
greater exclusion than their white counterparts. Improving outcomes
for disabled children must therefore be given priority.
What the independent experts say
The Social Exclusion Unit (September 2004):
"The single most important feature of the
experience of families with disabled children remains poverty.
Disability benefits often do not go far enough to redress the
balance, as it costs up to three times as much to raise a severely
disabled child. Childcare use is lower among groups such as families
with children with disabilities, who face a higher risk of social
exclusion. The inclusion of children with disabilities and/or
special educational needs in all aspects of school life within
mainstream schools continues to be an aspiration rather than a
reality for many. Disabled children suffer specific problems from
poorly adapted housing, and a lack of accessible play facilities
outside the home."
The Audit Commission (September 2003):
"Disabled children, parents, siblings and
carers often struggle to lead ordinary lives and to get the support
and services they need at the right time. [They face] a lottery
of provision . . . too little being provided too late . . . [and]
a maze of services."
Every Child Matters: Next Steps set out the
government's thinking behind the Children Bill and we were pleased
to see that the original vision had been revised following extensive
representations after the original paper from organisations including
Contact a Family.
2. APPOINTMENT
OF A
CHILDREN'S
COMMISSIONER
The Bill clarifies the role of the Commissioner,
who will have a policy scrutiny and monitoring role. S/he will
also represent the views and interests of children, who will have
a key role in appointing the successful candidate. The Commissioner
will not pursue individual cases except enquiries into matters
of particular importance identified by the Secretary of State.
There is considerable concern in the voluntary
sector, which Contact a Family shares, over the independence of
the Commissioner. We believe that it is vital that the Commissioner
should have the freedom to investigate individual cases which
s/he regards as important, without the consent of the Secretary
of State. Even if the current Secretary of State does not withhold
consent, future Secretaries may not be so benevolent and the Commissioner
must be seen by parents and children to be independent and to
truly be able to act as a champion for children. The Commissioner
must take special steps to ensure that they are reaching marginalised
children, such as those with disabilities.
3. SAFEGUARDING
CHILDREN
There will be a duty on key statutory agencies
to have regard to the need to safeguard children and new Boards
to oversee this.
Contact a Family welcomes the greater emphasis
on protecting children. We know that disabled children are three
to four times more likely to be abused than non-disabled children.
Sullivan and Knutson (2001) found that 31% of disabled children
have been abused as opposed to 9% of their non disabled peers.
Disabled children may face barriers to reporting abuse such as
communication difficulties. They may be less able to defend themselves
from violence or abuse. They may not have peer support networks
and indeed may be subject to bullying as a result of their disability.
When abuse is reported, evidence suggests that disabled people
are seen as unreliable witnesses and prosecutions are rare. (MENCAP
"Barriers to Justice" 1997)
The abuse of disabled children still remains
a hidden problem. We would like to see a particular emphasis in
guidance on the need to ensure that the protection of the most
vulnerable children is given particular emphasis by the new Boards.
Training must encompass the particular needs of those children
who would find it especially difficult to report abuse, such as
those with communication difficulties.
4. INTEGRATED
SERVICES
The principles behind Children's Trusts are
sound. Parents speak to us about their frustration in having to
repeat the same information time and again to different departments
and then being passed from one to the other while financial responsibility
is argued out. Pooled budgets across the LEA, Children's Social
Services and health services must be a positive step forward in
alleviating many of these problems.
Contact a Family welcomes the establishment
of Children's Trusts as having the potential to deliver more joined
up services to children and families. This Bill does not create
Children's Trusts as statutory organisations but encourages and
facilitates their development. We have some concern that already
some authorities are saying that they are not planning to create
a Children's Trust, although it is clear that they will be under
intense pressure to do so. We would wish to see more intensive
scrutiny of those councils who decide against a Children's Trust
to ensure that they are delivering the improvements to services
that the government wants and families so desperately need.
5. DIRECTOR OF
CHILDREN'S
SERVICES
The Bill requires local authorities to appoint
a Director of Children's Services, who may also chair the Children's
Trust. The Bill allows wide flexibility in the way the role is
constructed. As a minimum, the role should encompass the functions
relating to children currently falling to the Chief Education
Officer and Director of Social Services. Statutory guidance will
confirm that they authorities are free to add adult education,
adult social services, housing, leisure or other services to the
Director of Children's Services role.
Contact a Family has serious concerns about
the freedom to add adult services to the role. We welcomed the
appointment of the Director of Children's Services precisely because
it gave a senior individual the responsibility for children's
services alone. To dilute this emphasis is in our view to weaken
the role. The Director should be the champion for children and
families only rather than having to also juggle the needs of adult
service users. We would like to see this flexibility removed from
legislation.
6. LEAD COUNCIL
MEMBER
Each Local authority must appoint a Lead Council
Member for Children's Services. Local authorities will determine
the precise role.
Contact a Family welcomes the new role of Lead
Council member. We would welcome guidance to the Lead Council
Member that they should engage with families and the voluntary
and community sector locally to establish the needs of children
in their area.
7. INTEGRATED
INSPECTION FRAMEWORK
An Integrated Inspection Framework for children's
services will be developed by the Office for Standards in Education
(Ofsted) working closely with the Commission for Social Care Inspection
(CSCI), the Commission for Health Care Audit and Inspection (CHAI)
and the Audit Commission, amongst others. These bodies will carry
out joint area reviews.
We would like to see close involvement with
the Children's Commissioner when carrying out joint area reviews.
It would certainly be helpful for the Inspectors to know what
feedback had been received from children in the area about the
services they have received.
8. RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS
Contact a Family's major concern has always
been that there will be insufficient resources to deliver real
change for parents and children.
Contact a Family's Chief Executive, Francine
Bates chaired the Disabled Children's module in the new National
Service Framework for Children. This was subject to extensive
consultation with parents and children as well as professionals
from a variety of different disciplines. It sets out a clear statement
of the standards expected to be applied to children's services.
However, the government expects that it can be delivered within
existing resources and we are uncertain that it can be truly effective
without the financial support that was attached to previous NSFs.
9. PARENTING
SUPPORT TO
FAMILIES WITH
DISABLED CHILDREN
The dual challenge for organisations representing
disabled children and their families is to:
(a) ensure that programmes aimed at all children,
take account of the needs of disabled children and young people
at their very heart;
(b) that services and support to their parents
and wider family members are not overlooked. To do so would be
to fail to recognise that most disabled children live as part
of a family, with one or both parents.
The problem is that policies to help disabled
children and their families are likely to remain subordinated
to other measures. Disabled children are included in policies
aimed at all children and they are expected to benefit from a
trickle down effect. Yet it is a fallacy to think that improving
services for all children will necessarily improve them for all
disabled children. They, and their families, may indeed benefit
from some of them. But many disabled children have very particular
needs which may not be met by their inclusion as an add-on to
mainstream policies.
A very good example of this is the childcare
allowance in tax credits. This is available equally to families
with disabled or non disabled children.
However, the amount allowable is the same and
is therefore too low to enable many parents of disabled children
to afford childcare. Specialist home care agencies cost an average
of £11 per hour, which for someone working only the minimum
of 16 hours per week required to be eligible for the WFTC adds
up to £176 a week, even assuming no commuting time. Yet allowable
childcare costs are capped at £135 a week, of which a maximum
of 70% is paid in tax credits. As a result, many parents are discouraged
from seeking paid work. Only 3% of mothers with disabled children
work full time and indeed only 13% work part time.
This problem is exacerbated by the rules which
mean that less money is paid toward second and subsequent children
(ie there is a cap of £200 per week on care provided to two
or more children). This rule is presumably based on the assumption
that the second child can be cared for by the same childminder
without the costs doubling. However, this rationale does not hold
where care is provided to a disabled child who is likely to need
a very different form of care from their siblings.
The Inland Revenue's own Child and Working Tax
Credit Quarterly Statistics April 2004, show that, of in-work
families receiving tax credits at a rate higher than the family
element, those families with disabled children are less likely
to benefit from the childcare element. 14.6% of families with
no disabled children are benefiting from the childcare element,
compared to 7.8% of families with one disabled child and only
3% of families with two or more disabled children. These figures
reinforce the no doubt unintentionally negative consequences of
a one size fits all approach.
We are concerned that the similar one size fits
all approach of the Children Bill could have the unintended effect
of leaving disabled children and their families behind. Parents
with disabled children need very specific parenting support and
most would not wish to attend, call, or benefit from support services
aimed at all parents. They would feel that the unique challenges
and difficulties that they face would not be understood.
The way to combat this in our view is for the
government to commission a disabled children's strategy.
We consulted with parents of disabled children
about the Green Paper and there is a strong feeling that these
proposals will not deliver the specific outcomes that families
so desperately need. Parents are justifiably angry that many families
are trapped in a cycle of poverty, without adequate services.
In short, many still struggle to attain a basic quality of life.
Parents of disabled children sadly feel that their child does
not matter to those who are responsible for policy and practice.
Parents feel particularly frustrated that the
problems they face are long standing. They are consulted about
what they need on a regular basis but there then seems to be no
follow up action to actually deliver the improvements that they
say they want.
It is our strong view that concerted action
is required to address the specific needs of disabled children,
over and above the proposals contained in the Green Paper. The
Green Paper, together with the National Service Framework for
Children, the SEN Action Programme and specific action to address
child poverty, could form the basis of a strategy for disabled
children. This would be an overarching strategy across government
and contain specific and measurable targets for supporting disabled
children and their families.
This recommendation is in line with the findings
of the Audit Commission report "Services for Disabled Children"
2003.
Any such strategy must be backed by the resources
to deliver it effectively.
November 2004
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