§ Mr. SteenTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make respite care available for parents of children with severe physical, mental or physiological difficulties. [120943]
§ Mr. HuttonRespite care is already available for families with disabled children. Availability of respite care is being boosted by two important Government initiatives. First, the Carers National Strategy, which gives a strong commitment to improving services and support for all carers, including parent carers of disabled children. The Carers Grant in 2000–01 includes £10 million for services for families with disabled children.
Secondly, Quality Protects, the Government's £375 million programme to improve children's services includes the specific sub-objective for all local authorities to:
increase the number of disabled children receiving family support services (including short term breaks/respite care).