The duty, in one line
The short breaks duty requires every English council to provide a range of services giving parents of disabled children breaks from caring, and to publish a short breaks services statement setting out what is available. It sits in paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 to the Children Act 1989 (inserted by the Children and Young Persons Act 2008) and is given detail by the Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations 2011, in force since 1 April 2011.
Two duties, not one
The point most summaries miss is that two separate legal duties run together here, and they bite at different levels. The first is a general sufficiency duty owed to carers as a group: get the overall range and the statement right. The second is a specific, individually enforceable duty owed to one child: once an assessment finds a particular break necessary, you must provide it. Reviewing one does not discharge the other.
| General sufficiency duty | Specific s.2 CSDPA duty |
|---|---|
| Children Act 1989, Sch 2 para 6 + the 2011 Regulations | Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, s.2 |
| Owed to carers in the area as a group | Owed to one assessed child |
| A target duty: provide a sufficient range, publish a statement | Triggered when assessment finds a break necessary |
| Judged across the local population | Must be met in full for that child once it bites |
What the services statement must contain
Under the 2011 Regulations you must offer a sufficient range of breaks: daytime care, overnight care, leisure and educational activities outside the home, and care in the evenings, at weekends and during school holidays (Reg 4). You must also prepare and keep under review a short breaks services statement (Reg 5) that sets out the range of services provided, the criteria by which eligibility is assessed, and how that range is designed to meet the needs of local carers. The statement is a published document, not an internal commissioning note.
The s.2 CSDPA line, and the JL v Islington limit
Section 2 of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 applies to disabled children through the Children Act 1989. Where, following assessment, you are satisfied that it is necessary to arrange a home-based or community-based break to meet a disabled child’s needs, the statute says you shall make those arrangements. There is no resourcing defence once that threshold is met: a parent challenging an unmet assessed need is relying on this duty, not the general one.
One boundary matters when you are defending a service. In R (JL) v Islington LBC [2009], the court held that overnight and residential short breaks are arranged under the Children Act 1989 (s.17 or s.20), not under s.2 CSDPA. So the enforceable s.2 route covers the home- and community-based breaks; overnight provision is governed by the Children Act framework instead.
- See also what short breaks are, respite care, and the parent carer needs assessment.
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.