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Dept of Health

Answer

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures within Valuing People are aimed at children; and what plans he has to expand its remit. [138495] Dr. Ladyman: Our proposals for improving services for people with learning disabilities, their families, and carers are 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 had a chapter on disabled children which set out Government objectives and proposals for maximising opportunities for disabled children and supporting young people's transition into adulthood. In particular, it set out how we would develop an integrated approach to supporting disabled children. In Making Change Happen (HC 514), our 2003 annual report to Parliament on learning disability, we highlighted the progress we had made towards the achievement of the objectives. The Green Paper, Every Child Matters gave further commitments to improving services for disabled children and their families, particularly through: the development of the children's national service framework, which will set new national standards across the National Health Service, social services and interface with education for children; the development of the children trusts pathfinders, a significant number of which will focus on disabled children and their families; and the forthcoming special educational needs action programme.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

138495; 413 c873W

Session

2002-03

Subjects

Disability Children Families Learning disability Standards

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk