The Trust, which brings together organisations that work to improve services for children, young people and their families across the county, has signed the ‘Local Authority Charter’, a national initiative launched by the ‘Every Disabled Child Matters’ campaign.
The Charter encourages local authorities to commit to providing a range of services for disabled children and to address the needs of disabled children in their strategic planning and local area agreements. Key elements include a commitment to providing comprehensive, timely information that reaches the people who need it, and ensuring that the carers and children are involved as partners in the development of services.
“As a Children’s Trust we are all fully behind this Charter. Together we already achieve most of its aspects, so we are well placed to commit to the Charter” said Cllr. Keith Glazier, Lead Member for Children & Adult Services at East Sussex County Council. “And the Charter provides a positive focus for the Children’s Trust, helping us to work together more effectively to make things better for disabled children.”
“We are one of the first Children's Trusts to sign as a group, rather than just the Local Authority signing up. All members of the Trust are absolutely committed to working together and with families and the children and young people themselves to improve services for disabled children”
The decision to sign the charter followed a recommendation by the East Sussex Disabled Children’s Development Group to the Executive Group of The Children’s Trust, which is chaired by Cllr. Glazier.
Steve Broach, Campaign Manager for Every Disabled Child Matters, said: “The campaign team are delighted that the East Sussex Children's Trust has signed up to our Local Authority Charter. Families with disabled children will see this as a real sign of political commitment to disabled children in their county. They will look forward to seeing work put in place to achieve all the objectives in the Charter by January 2008”
Notes to editors
About East Sussex Children’s Trust
The East Sussex Children's Trust brings together key local organisations who work closely together to improve the support available to children, young people and their families. It includes the county council, borough and district councils, voluntary organisations, the Learning and Skills Council, headteachers, the police and health agencies. The Children’s Trust Executive Group (CTEG) coordinates the Children’s Trust and includes representatives from all the partner organisations as well as young people. Further details can be found on pages about East Sussex Children’s Trust.
About ‘Every Disabled Child Matters’
The ‘Every Disabled Child Matters’ campaign was established by four leading organisations working with disabled children and their families:
It aims to get 25,000 supporters signed up to the campaign online by July 2007. The campaign launched its Local Authority Charter to raise the profile of disabled children within local authorities. The Charter asks local authorities to commit to providing a range of services for disabled children and also to addressing the needs of disabled children in their strategic planning and local area agreements.
For a copy of the Charter, along with a list of local authorities who have signed up and further information on the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign, see the Every Disabled Child Matters website.
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