Luton children with disabilities register

The Children Act 1989 requires all local authorities to keep a register of children with disabilities to help with planning and monitoring services.

In Luton and Bedfordshire, the following organisations are working together to build an effective register and the information gathered will be shared by all agencies:

• health authorities
• children and learning department for Luton
• social services department for Bedfordshire

The register of children with disabilities has nothing to do with child protection.

Which children do we need to know about?

For the purposes of the register a child or young person is defined as disabled if he ot she is aged up to 18 years and can't do the everyday things that his or her peers can do.

We would like to know about your child if he or she has any of the following:

• physical disability
• hearing impairment
• chronic ill health
• learning disability
• visual impairment
• mental ill health
• communication disorder
• developmental disorder

We would also like to know about your child if he or she has a Blue Badge, or is in receipt of middle or high rate disability living allowance. Registering your child does not mean automatic entitlement to any services.

What use is the register?

In Luton and Bedfordshire we will use the register to:

• provide useful information via a newsletter which will be sent to families of children who are registered
• contact you and keep you informed of developments which may affect you
• record the details of children with disabilities and their families so that their needs can be effectively planned for
• provide health, education, social services and voluntary organisations with information to enable them to work together to provide quality services to children with disabilities

How will our family benefit from the register?

We aim to produce a twice-yearly newsletter for parents and carers whose children are registered. This will inform families about events and developments locally and nationally and will keep people in touch with each other.

We'll use mailing lists that the register provides us with to consult with parents and carers about new developments and proposed changes.

Who will have access to the register?

The information will be kept confidentially on an individual system. Under the Data Protection Act you can make a request in writing if you wish to see the information held about your child.

The information will be used for research and to assist the planning of resources in health, education and social services. No information on individuals will be available.

The information will tell us whether or not we are providing the best and most useful services for every child in the county and help us to identify gaps in services and make improvements in the future.

We propose to review the register every two years to keep it up to date.

Do I have to register my child?

No, but unless we have a complete picture of children with special needs across the county it will be very difficult to plan existing services and develop new ones. It will also be difficult to let you know about new developments and services available.

We are committed to providing the best possible services for children with disabilities and to do this we need your help to identify the children in need.

How can I register my child?