CAMPAIGNERS today demanded the government act to properly support families of disabled children.

Disability charity Sense has published a new report highlighting failures in the children’s social care system and calls for stronger legal protections for disabled children and their families. 

The report reveals that parents of disabled children are forced to spend thousands of pounds on support. 

Sense’s James Watson-O’Neill said: “The social care system exists to support children to grow, learn and thrive, but instead children are being let down and families are at breaking point.

“Parents are left fighting for scraps and are forced to pay out of pocket for the support their child should be entitled to.

“It’s an injustice and new laws are urgently needed to stop more disabled children missing out,” Mr Watson-O’Neill said.

The charity demanded that the government make disabled children a priority by establishing a clear and consistent pathway to support and a national threshold to assess all disabled children.

Disabled families are legally entitled to social care support, which could include help such as washing and dressing, home adaptations, day centres and accessible transport and should be funded by the local authority.

There are 1.8 million disabled children, and nearly a third of parents say they have been unable to access the support they need from children’s social services.

But Sense’s report shows parents are having to pay themselves to meet the health and social care costs for their disabled child with the average family spending more than £1,500 of their own money.

One in 20 families spent more than £5,000 in the past six months, with many turning to loans, credit cards, and even crowdfunding to plug the gaps.