Clause 25
Children and Young Persons Bill [Lords]
5:15 pm
Angela Watkinson (Whip, Whips; Upminster, Conservative)
I welcome the clause, which is a valuable part of the Bill, but I also support my hon. Friend in wishing to add the word “appropriate” towards the end of subsection (3). A break from caring for a child with special needs has to be free from worry; otherwise, it does not have the desired effect. That is especially important when the child has special needs that relate to behaviour or the way in which they respond to people and their surroundings. Children on the autistic disorder spectrum, in particular, are a good example: they do not respond well to change in either their environment or the people around them. They like things to be familiar and they enjoy their routine. They are also accomplished escapers, so it is very important that the provision for them is in a safe environment and that highly trained and appropriately trained people are looking after them.
“Appropriate” provision means provision of a safe environment and specially trained staff who understand the challenges that such children face. Most children’s services know very well what is needed and are highly sympathetic to the families caring for a child with profound needs, but often they do not have the funding to provide that very specific, appropriate accommodation.
There is an organisation in my constituency called RAGS—Romford Autistic Group Support. It is a group of parents who have children on the autistic spectrum. I happen to be patron of that charity, and when I meet the parents they tell me stories about their everyday lives that illustrate how difficult their lives are. They do not experience normality as we accept it. Lack of sleep is a recurring theme. One mother told me that her child can stay awake for a week and the only time she can get to sleep is when he is at school and she puts a “Do not disturb” notice on her front door. It is difficult to socialise. It is difficult to invite people to the home or to go out, even to the supermarket, because of the unpredictability of the children’s behaviour. There is great pressure on siblings, who are not able to invite friends home.
One mother told me last week at the organisation’s annual dinner that she has no off-street parking, and if there is no parking space outside her home when she gets back, the child will not get out of the car. If she stops outside an unfamiliar house, he will not get out because it is not his home, so she has to drive round for a while and then come back to their home and wait and hope that there will be a parking space outside it. Such things are taken for granted by those parents as part of their everyday life, but to us they seem an horrendous mountain to climb.
The challenge of coping with school holidays, when parents do not have that break when the child is at school, compounds the difficulties of everyday life. The challenge of just coping is enormous, and that is what makes respite care extremely important. I welcome the clause, but I think that the word “appropriate” is especially important when we are discussing provision for children with profound needs. The situation is unlike that of a child with, for example, mobility problems. It is relatively easy to make adaptations to buildings with ramps and low switches, so that children using wheelchairs can be accommodated. For children who have behavioural problems or who do not understand their surroundings, it is much more difficult to make proper provision and to have the staff who understand what they need, and there is a huge cost involved in that. I hope that the Minister will give some thought to how local authorities, with the best will in the world, will be able to provide what the Bill requires them to.