Interim short breaks service statement

Introduction to our short breaks service statement

The short breaks service statement is currently under review.

In the last few months, Brighton & Hove City Council has made progress in developing a new short breaks offer. However, there's still work to be done and consultation underway regarding the specialist offer. This will be further developed in the next 6 months.

The following statement gives information to families living in Brighton and Hove who have a child or young person with a special educational need or disability (SEND) about the services currently on offer.

This statement includes information about:

the current range of short breaks available in Brighton and Hove
eligibility criteria for short breaks in Brighton and Hove
how to access short breaks

Requirement for a short breaks statement

Local Authorities are required to publish a statement about short break services for children and young people who have disabilities and their families. This is set out in the Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations 2011.

This interim statement has been developed in line with all current legislation relating to short breaks.

About short breaks

Short breaks give children and young people who have SEND the opportunity to join in with an enjoyable activity away from their parents/carers.

Short breaks allow children and young people to:

take part in activities
make friends
develop independence
have fun

Short breaks also provide parents/carers a break from caring responsibilities, allowing time to be spent with siblings or at work.

Short breaks can occur during the day or evening, overnight or at weekends.

Short breaks can take place:

for a few hours and be used by all children with SEND or
over several days and be more specialist provision

They can take place in different settings such as:

clubs
leisure facilities
the family home
a residential setting

Local Authorities must consider the needs of carers who could not continue to provide care unless breaks from caring were given to them.

Eligibility for short breaks

Short breaks can be accessed by all children and young people aged 0 to 25, who:

have a disability (as defined in section 17(11) of the Children Act 1989)
live in Brighton & Hove

Short breaks currently available in Brighton and Hove

The provision of short breaks in Brighton and Hove has been undergoing review. This has resulted in a new targeted offer coming online from April 2024.

The specialist offer is still under review. We'll be further developing this over the summer term with a view to publishing the final short breaks statement in 6 months (September 2024).

Universal short breaks

A wide range of short break services can be accessed without assessment.

Children and young people must:

live in Brighton & Hove
be 0 to 25 years old

The Compass Card

The parent partnership service, run by Amaze, holds Brighton & Hove’s disability register (The Compass) for children and young people aged 0 to 25. The Compass disability register helps us to plan services across the city.

Registration is voluntary. Every child or young person registered will receive a free Compass Card. This is a leisure discount card which provides discounts and special offers for leisure activities across the city, such as:

swimming
cinema
bowling
soft play
farms
museums
theatres and entertainment

To be eligible for a Compass Card, children and young people need to be under 25 and have a special educational need or disability that significantly affects their daily lives.

Children and young people also need to be living in Brighton & Hove or going to school in Brighton & Hove.

In general children and young people on the Compass have at least one of the following:

an Education, Health and Care Plan
be in receipt of Disability Living Allowance or Personal Independence Payment

Find out how to get a Compass Card.

The Carer’s Card

A Carers' Card offers discounts on activities across the city to help you look after your own health and well-being.

If you're a parent carer of a child or young person with special or additional needs, you may be entitled to a Carers' Card. If your child has a Compass Card from Amaze and is under 25, you'll qualify automatically.

Parent carers need to provide the name, address, date of birth, email address and mobile phone number of all family members who are regular carers and who want to apply for a Carers’ Card.

This could include brothers and sisters with a caring role aged 8 to 25. They would be issued with a ‘Young Carers’ Card’.

Applicants must provide the:

name and date of birth of the Compass Card holder
number on the back of the Compass Card
expiry date on the back of the Compass Card

Apply for a Carer's Card.

Targeted short breaks

We have been working since autumn 2023 to extend the targeted short breaks offer to include a wider range of activities for a wider range of families and their children and young people, with a broader range of needs.

Several consultation activities have taken place and a new offer has been launched. This will be a developing range of activities but starts with 8 new services. Parents/carers can book activities via the Eequ system.

The new targeted SEND short break offer will only offer short breaks to children aged 4 (children in reception) through to young people aged 25.

We welcome the Parent Carers' Council's (PaCC) ongoing challenge to make the short breaks offer equitable across areas of need.

We'll continue to work with short breaks providers to improve access to information on the booking site, based on feedback from the wider SEND community.

Eligibility is linked to the child or young person:

living in Brighton and Hove
being aged 0 to 25

And any one of the following:

being the subject of an Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP)
attending a Special School or Specialist Facility Placement
receiving middle to high-level Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
receiving a direct payment (under 16)
receiving a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) (16+)
has highly specialised needs and has undergone a social care assessment

Eligibility is checked at the point of booking a place. Services may make a small charge for a place. Families in receipt of a direct payment can use this to fund a place.

No further or new assessment is required.

Parents can book the various activities on offer via the Eequ system.

Specialist short breaks

Specialist short breaks are for children and young people who, based on an assessment of their needs, require additional support to access activities.

In these circumstances, the relevant professional working with the family, such as a social worker or a social work assistant, will complete a Strengthening Families Assessment to consider:

the child and family’s needs
what package of support would meet those needs

Eligibility is via social care assessment. Children and young people in Brighton & Hove are eligible for specialist short breaks if:

they have a moderate to severe learning disability and/or a severe physical disability
their needs can only be met through the input of specialist services

The assessment referral process and the services on offer are set out on the specialist short breaks page. Some new holiday providers offer specialist short breaks, as well as a ‘home sitting’ service.

We're actively working on expanding our payment options for SEND Short Break services. Our goal is to enable all our SEND Short Break providers to accept direct payments which will be more convenient for parents and carers to access these valuable services.

Only a select number of providers are set up to accept direct payments. However, we anticipate that by the time parents and carers book activities for the upcoming summer programme, they will have the option to use these to pay for these services across all of our SEND Short Break providers.

We understand the importance of flexibility and accessibility when supporting children with special educational needs and disabilities. By broadening the acceptance of direct payments, we aim to make it easier for families to access the support and services they require.

We're reviewing our in-house respite provisions at Tudor House and Drove Road. The current provision can be accessed on the specialist short breaks page.

The proposal is to consider:

increased capacity for respite within Drove Road
Tudor House becoming a full-time residential establishment

Further development of the short breaks offer and final short breaks statement

We're committed to continuing to develop the short breaks offer, in partnership with families.

Further engagement and consultation events will take place over the next few months to develop targeted and specialist services.

Read guidance from GOV.UK on how local authorities should provide short break care.