The Director of Children’s Services submitted a report which provided an update on progress on the Wirral Local Area Implementation programme for Aiming High for Disabled Children in relation to Short Breaks provision.

Julia Hassall, Head of Children’s Social Care, introduced the report along with Clive Groves, Service Manager, and reported that the approach sought to transform services across sectors to provide support to achieve the best outcomes for children and young people with disabilities and enable children and their families to live ordinary lives.

The Government were requiring the Council and Primary Care Trust to provide a stepped change to short breaks services and to deliver on what was termed the Full Service Offer designed to meet the needs of all groups of disabled children. The report advised on action taken in meeting the reporting and performance requirements set out by Together for Disabled Children, who were administering the programme on behalf of the DCSF, prior to April 2009 and the further steps required over the next two years to March 2011.

The report also included details of the consultation strategy which had been developed with parents, and the commissioning brief.

Dawn Tolcher, Project Manager, gave a presentation on some of the projects which had been held so far, including a family fun day at Barnstondale Outdoor Centre, summer school programmes at special schools and ‘messy play’ at the Bromborough Children’s Centre.

Members paid tribute to everybody involved in providing the service and expressed the view that although it was only grant funded until March 2011, support should be found to continue with this initiative.

The officers responded to the comments of members and agreed that a report be brought back to a meeting of the Committee in March/April 2010 and some of the parents to have benefited from the scheme be invited to address the Committee.

Resolved –

(1) That the report be noted and a further report be brought back to the Committee in March/April, 2010.

(2) That the Consultation Strategy for Parent Carers be noted.

(3) That the Commissioning Brief be noted.