To ask the Minister of Health to outline how his Department spent £2 million of funding, announced in October 2024, on improving services for children with disabilities.

In October 2024 I announced £13.1 million of recurrent funding with up to £2m funding available in year, to improve services for Children with Disabilities. This is in acknowledgement of the pressures in this area which were also highlighted in the BBC Spotlight programme “I am not okay.”

I have personally met with the families involved in the Spotlight programme on a number of occasions and I have provided them with a commitment that my Department will continue to work with the Health and Social Care Trusts to have measurable improvements in Children with Disability services into the future.

To date, my Department has worked with Trusts to assess what was deliverable on the ground within the 2024/25 financial year, and have allocated some £1.38m additional funding to Health and Social Care Trusts for 2024/25.

With this funding in 2024/25, the Health and Social Care Trusts have focussed on meeting initial short-term priorities. The funding has been utilised to develop various initiatives across Trusts to improve family and community support services for Children with Disability, enhance short break provision and expand targeted care programmes.

Health and Social Care Trusts have now confirmed of the £1.38m funding allocated in the 2024/25 year, this funding has allowed expenditure in the following areas in the order of:

£133,000 in respect of residential provision;

£86,000 on overnight short breaks;

£978,000 on family support including day short breaks;

£94,000 on therapeutic and behaviour support services; and

£85,000 on fostering short breaks.