Councils not all ready for short breaks funding

Following a question from Mark Hunter, MP for Cheadle, junior children's minister Diana Johnson revealed in a written answer that 18 councils had not met the nine criteria ahead of the national implementation of short break funding this April.

Early last year, the Department for Children, Schools and Families asked local authorities to prepare to reform their short break service before new funding was distributed this year.

Among the 18 authorities that did not meet all nine criteria by April, the City of London, Oldham and Sheffield all met less than six of the standards.

But Johnson added: "As of the end of June 2009, 122 of the 129 non-pathfinder areas had met all nine criteria, a further six had met eight criteria, while one authority had yet to meet four criteria."

All authorities have now received their allocation of money for the year.

But concerns have been raised that for the next round of funding, in 2010/11, local authorities will not have to prove their readiness.

Lesley Campbell, national children's officer at Mencap, said: "It is encouraging to see that by the end of June almost all authorities met the readiness criteria.

"But Mencap finds it extremely worrying that local authorities will not have to meet any criteria to receive next year's money.

"It is a major amount of public funding and we would like to see assurances from the DCSF as to how the money is going to be spent on improving short break services for those children most in need."