Category Archives: ukcuts
Respite cuts leave parents of disabled children across Norfolk ‘in tears’
Parents of youngsters with profound disabilities are protesting against changes in the way residential short breaks are allocated, which they say have taken away a “lifeline” and left some of them with 50pc fewer respite hours or, in some cases, no residential respite at all.
Sarah Dewhurst with 14-year-old Alice, who has profound and multiple disabilities. Picture: KAREN BETHELL
In March of this year, council chiefs announced changes affecting up to 1,000 Norfolk youngsters.
These meant that the £1.7m budget for disabled children would need to be used for more children, with each family allocated cash to pay for activities according to a point-scoring system.
But, while the council said these changes would not affect residential short breaks, parents claim they have been left “devastated” by the drastic cuts in the number of hours respite they have been allocated.