Liberal Democrat and Conservative commitments for disabled children

13 May 2010

EDCM to call for early statement of coalition policy

Yesterday saw the formation of a Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition Government. In the lead up to the announcement of the election, EDCM met with senior members from both the Conservative and the Liberal Democrat parties. At both these meetings we received assurances that the parties were committed to building on the progress of Aiming High for Disabled Children and would continue to work with EDCM.

On 7th April 2010, the Conservative Party wrote to EDCM stating that “A future Conservative Government will aim to make a real difference to the lives of families with disabled children”. They also set out their priorities, now published in their ‘Contract for Equalities’, which are ‘increasing the number of health visitors; simplifying the assessment process for accessing services; and making it easier for parents to access respite care’. They went on to say that they would put ‘more power and control into the hands of parents and young disabled children themselves’ and ‘continue to involve and consult disabled children and their parents in implementing and reviewing policies which affect them’.

David Laws, now Chief Secretary to the Treasury, stated during his meeting with EDCM that the Liberal Democrats are committed to the spirit of Aiming High for Disabled Children, and that this is not an area that the Liberal Democrats would remove funding from. They also re-iterated their long-standing support for improving short break provision.

Christine Lenehan, EDCM Board Member said today: “EDCM looks forward to working with the new Government to make sure that every disabled child has a full, happy childhood and that every family with a disabled child gets the support they need to lead an ordinary life. We will be calling for an early commitment to a national vision for disabled children that clearly states what every disabled child and their family can expect from the new Government. This should include details of how national policy will build on the current programme of service transformation, and the way in which local areas will be supported to ensure they can meet local needs.”

In addition to the Conservative ‘Contract for Equalities’, both parties made commitments in their manifestos. Areas of agreement between the two parties are as follows:

• Both parties are committed to increasing flexible working
• Both parties are committed to working towards the goal of eradicating child poverty by 2020
• Both parties have committed to assisting disabled people that want to and are able to work into employment by providing assistance to employers to make necessary workplace adjustments
• Both parties want to provide increased assistance for childcare – the Conservatives want ‘free nursery care for pre-school children’ and the Liberal Democrats want “a move to 20 hours free childcare for every child, from the age of 18 months
• Both parties have pledged to maintain Winter Fuel Payments – with the Liberal Democrats advocating for it to be extended to all severely disabled people. The Conservative party have said that they will protect Disability Living Allowance and that they will work to ‘simplify the assessment process for accessing services so that parents of disabled children do not have to go through the stressful ordeal of multiple assessments with numerous different professionals, as well as hours of form-filling.’

Download the coalition Government policy statement

Download the Conservative Party ‘Contract for Equalities’

Download the Conservative Party Manifesto

Download the Liberal Democrat Party Manifesto