Disability (Hansard, 26 January 1993)

§ Mr. Wigley
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what action is currently undertaken by his Department to monitor the application by social services departments of the sections within the Children Act 1989 and the subsequent guidance notes relating to disability issues in Wales.

§ Mr. Gwilym Jones
The social services inspectorate, Wales, published in October 1992 the report of a survey conducted in August 1991 "Organisation of Social Services for Children with a Disability", a copy of which is in the Library of the House. The inspectorate proposes to hold a follow-up workshop for local authority staff in the early part of this year. Social services departments' reports on inter-agency collaboration under the Children Act, including services to children in need who are disabled, have begun to arrive in the Welsh Office in response to the request for such returns in the Department's circular 26/91. A summary of the information provided by authorities will appear in a future report to Parliament under section 83(6) of the Act.

§ Mr. Wigley
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what level of additional resources have been granted to social services departments in Wales to enable them to carry out obligations relating to disability issues laid out in the Children Act 1989.

§ Mr. Gwilym Jones
Local authorities' responsibilities under the Children Act are taken into account in setting standard spending assessments as part of the annual local government revenue settlement. These resources are not hypothecated to individual services. In addition, a specific grant was introduced to support the training of staff to implement the Act's provisions. Grant available for that purpose was £200,000 in 1990–91 and £240,000 in 1991–92 and is included within the child care staff training grant of £635,000 for 1992–93.

§ Mr. Wigley
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much has been allocated by his Department to publicise the Children Act 1989 and the relevant guidance notes to organisations of and for disabled people in Wales.

§ Mr. Gwilym Jones
Some £70,000 has been spent on guidance about the Children Act—including volume 6 on children with disabilities—which was distributed free of charge to local authorities and relevant voluntary organisations in Wales.