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Written question asked by Tom Clarke (Labour) on Wednesday, 25 June 2003, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 14 July 2003. It was answered by Baroness Hodge of Barking (Labour) on Monday, 14 July 2003 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, how many children with a learning disability took short breaks enabled by funding from the carers grant in each year since 1997-98, broken down by each social services authority; what net expenditure from the carers grant on children with a learning disability by each social services authority in England (a) was in each year since 1997-98 and (b) is projected for the financial year 2003-04; how many children took short breaks enabled by funding from the carers grant in each year since 1997-98, broken down by social services authority. - Inc table.
Answer

Mr. Tom Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) how many children with a learning disability took short breaks enabled by funding from the carers grant in each year since 1997-98, broken down by each social services authority; [122336] (2) what net expenditure from the carers grant on children with a learning disability by each social services authority in England (a) was in each year since 1997-98 and (b) is projected for the financial year 2003-04; [122384] (3) how many children took short breaks enabled by funding from the carers grant in each year since 1997-98, broken down by social services authority. [122385] Margaret Hodge: Since it was introduced in 1999, the funding for the carer's grant has increased year by year, and will continue to do so, as follows: _________________________________________________________________________________________________. £ million 1999-2000 20 2000-01 50 2001-02 70 2002-03 85 2003-04 100 2004-05 125 2005-06 185 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 20 per cent. of the carer's grant is earmarked for children's services. It is a matter for local authorities to determine local needs and distribute the carer's grant as they see fit. For this reason, information about how much money each local authority spends on services for children in general, and children with a learning disability, is not held centrally. Details about how many children with a learning disability from each social services authority took short breaks funded by the carer's grant are also not held centrally. In 2001-02, 52,481 families were supported by children's services using the carer's grant. Before this date we did not collect data on the breakdown of spending of the carer's grant between children's and adult's services. This information will continue to be collected in future years.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
409 c93W; 122336;122384;122385
Session
2002-03
Subjects
Children Carers Carers' benefits Grants Learning disability Holidays Local government Young people Respite care
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk