§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what(a) funding and (b) other support there is for parents with children with Down's Syndrome; what plans he has to increase (i) funding and (ii) other support; and if he will make a statement. [149419]
§ Dr. LadymanOver £3 billion a year is spent on health and social services for people with learning disabilities, including those with Down's Syndrome. People with 1427W Down's Syndrome also use mainstream health and social services and benefit from increased expenditure on those services.
People with Down's Syndrome and their family carers will also benefit from our proposals for improving services for people with learning disabilities, their families and carers as set out in the White Paper "Valuing People: A New Strategy for Learning Disability for the 21st Century" (Cm 5086), published in March 2001. "Valuing People" sets out a comprehensive five year strategy to be implemented by the Government and by local agencies.
The White Paper also announced the creation of two new funds to support its priorities; the Implementation Support Fund (ISF) of £2.3 million a year from April 2001 and the Learning Disability Development Fund (LDDF), comprising of £23.1 million revenue and £20 million capital in 2003–04. Our annual report on learning disability, "Making Change Happen" (HC 514), published in April 2003, announced that the ISF would continue until March 2006. The LDDF will also continue until March 2006.
Families of children with Down's Syndrome have also benefited from Government programmes to support disabled children. As part of the "Quality Protects" (QP) programme, the disabled children's ringfenced grant rose from £15 million last year to £30 million this year. This, along with the yearly rises in the Carer's Grant, is leading to increases in the levels of provision of short term breaks for parents of disabled children. Direct payments were introduced in the Carers and Disabled Children Act 2000; one of the key aims is to give families greater choice and flexibility in how they receive services, including the range of short term breaks. As part of the development of national service framework for children, the Government are considering how best to support the particular needs of families with disabled children, who require flexible services responsive to their particular needs.
The Down's Syndrome Association has been awarded a grant of £28,000 for a two year project, "Planning for a Healthy Life". The project aims to produce web-based information on the specific health issues that need to be taken into account in health action planning for people with Down's Syndrome by medical students, general practitioners and health workers.
People with Down's Syndrome and their family carers will also benefit from the outcome of this project.