The Disabled Children’s Partnership (DCP) is calling on the public to email Ministers asking the government to include disabled children in the upcoming spending review.
On the 27th October, the government will decide what funds will be available for disabled children for health and social care services and Covid recovery. However, campaigners are concerned that disabled children will be overlooked once again.
According to the DCP, nearly three quarters of disabled children and young people have seen their progress regress in the pandemic as vital support services stopped. Despite this, there has been no ring-fenced recovery funds to get these services back to normal.
One parent carer told the DCP: “We have continued to have one of our PAs in but the other works for an agency with multiple clients so we chose not to have her in during any of the lockdowns due to the risk of infection.
“All my son’s social activities have been moved online to Zoom which doesn’t interest him. We haven’t been able to have nana or grandad in our house for month and I miss their practical and emotional support.”
Sadly, the current situation is not isolated to the pandemic, as disabled children have long been lacking support, even before Covid-19 hit the UK.
In fact, new economic analysis by Scope and the DCP found that disabled children’s health and social care is being underfunded by £2.1 billion.
“Time is short. The government must build a different future for children and families, and fund dedicated recovery to make up for over a year of lost progress,” say the DCP.
The coalition are now urging the public to ramp up the pressure on the government by sending an email to government Ministers who help decide funds for disabled children and families: Rishi Sunak (Chancellor of the Exchequer), Nadhim Zahawi (Secretary of State for Education), and Sajid Javid (Secretary of State for Health and Social Care).
The DCP provide a customisable email template to speed up the process, and require roughly 400 more emails to get the government’s attention.
To send an email to Ministers using the template mentioned above, click here.
