Government consults on requiring councils to provide short breaks for carers of disabled children

The government has launched a consultation on whether all local authorities should be required to provide short breaks for parents and carers who look after a disabled child.

Short breaks – which include daytime, overnight or weekend care in or out of the child’s home – “can and do make a vital difference to carers’ lives and the lives of their children”, it said.

The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Ed Balls, added: “I want to build on the good practice developed by many local authorities to embed this across the country so short break services are responsive to the needs of parents and their families. We want to make sure that parents and children get the support they need when they need it.”

The government, which will allocate an additional £1m to 59 local authorities to fund more short breaks this year, said the provision had proved popular with parents and carers with a significant uptake “in both the pathfinder and those authorities that rolled out provision in 2009”.

Local authorities have been invited to submit a business case to show how the funding would be used, the expected outcomes, and how they would provide short breaks for parents and children with a range of needs.

The government had already committed to spending £280m in grants between 2008 and 2011 to improve short breaks provision.

The consultation period on the new duty lasts for 12 weeks from 1 February. It is expected that final guidance and regulations will be published in September 2010.