Services for disabled children graded by parents

The Department for Children, Schools and Families collected information about 30 authorities through a questionnaire, asking parents about their views of health, social care and education services for their disabled children over the past 12 months.

The survey, which questioned parents between January and March this year, revealed the highest scoring authority was York with 65, while the lowest was Lewisham with 55.

But the performance of the authorities, which were judged against the five standards from the government's "core offer" - information, assessment, transparency, participation and feedback - showed parents were generally not happy with the standards of feedback.

All 30 authorities scored less than 20 out of 100 for feedback in either health, education or social care.

The aim of the survey, which is to be conducted annually, is to provide a baseline for local authorities to assess their performance on the provision of services for disabled children.

Last month, CYP Now reported that parents of disabled children had scored the national delivery of the government's core offer for disabled children at 59 out of 100.

By the end of June a report will be published for each local area involved in the survey with more details on their results.

Local baseline surveys for all areas in England will be conducted by autumn this year and will be published by the end of the year.

The core offer, introduced through Aiming High for Disabled Children, is the commitment from local authorities and primary care trusts to disabled children and their parents on how they will be informed and involved as their needs are assessed and necessary services are delivered.