The Council for Disabled Children (CDC) and the Disabled Children’s Partnership are calling on the government to put disabled children and young people at the heart of government policy making.
The calls have been published in a new report, Disabled Children at the Table, inspired by a campaign led by the Children’s Charities Coalition in 2023, with the authors urging the government to make the UK the best place to be a child.
The report says children and young people with disabilities have been overlooked by policymakers for too long, and the impact of this is clear. For example, families with disabled children are more likely to experience poverty and they may also find it difficult to get a social care assessment.
Children with learning disabilities are also 4.5 times more likely to have a mental health problem, yet only one in five parent carers feel that their disabled child receives the correct level of support from health services, with gaps continually identified in mental health support.
Furthermore, the Good Childhood Report found that children who are limited by their disability or long-term illness are almost four times as likely to be unhappy with life overall compared to children who do not have a disability or illness.
Children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) also face barriers to accessing basic support and services that enable them to thrive and fulfil their aspirations. With the number of children with SEND needing support increasing rapidly, the government is failing to keep up with demand, with research finding that two in five parents of children with SEND are forced to give up work.
The authors say this research highlights the constant difficulties facing children with disabilities when seeking accessible activities, high quality care and inclusive education, demonstrating why well-resourced and properly coordinated services must be a priority.
Anna Bird, Chair of the Disabled Children’s Partnership and CEO of Contact, said: “More than one in ten children in the UK are disabled, yet their lives – and those of their families – are often invisible in debates about public services and priorities. As a result, parents face a constant battle to get the support their children need; children are not able to fulfil their potential; and families are not able to live the lives they want.”
The report is therefore urging the government to commit to an ambitious cross-government strategy and outcomes framework to drive improvements for babies, children and young people. In doing so, the Prime Minister should appoint a Cabinet Committee to ensure children with disabilities are safer, happier and healthier, and have more equal access to opportunities.
The DCP also wants to see a new approach to decision-making that places disabled children’s needs, wishes and outcomes at its heart, involving children and young people every step of the way. This approach must ensure genuine co-production takes place, engaging with families as ‘expert partners’ throughout the process.
Finally, the DCP is calling on the government to invest more of our national wealth in improving the lives of children and young people with disabilities, and spend strategically on early intervention and prevention. With this, they want to see a commitment to eradicating child poverty and a wholesale reform of disabled children’s social care, with a particular focus on early intervention, and a more inclusive education system.
Amanda Allard, Director of the CDC and Strategic Director at the National Children’s Bureau, said: “Successive governments have failed to prioritise the needs of disabled children and their families and the impact that this has had is stark.
“We know that neither social care, education or health are currently meeting the needs of disabled children, with families often having to wait too long to get the help they need. It is vital that the government acts on this report’s recommendations to ensure that disabled children and their families become a clear priority.”
