Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of contributing to a covid-19 recovery plan for disabled children.

No specific assessment has been made. However, identifying and addressing the needs of disabled people, including disabled children, is a key part of the Government’s recovery planning. We will publish a national strategy for disabled people later this spring, taking into account the impacts of the pandemic on disabled people.

National Health Service recovery guidance makes clear that community services must be prioritised for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities aged up to 25 years old and who have an Education Health and Care Plan in place or who are going through an assessment for one. These services fall under the category of ‘continue essential services’.