Latest News for Parents & Carers

The success of the hidden disabilities sunflower lanyard scheme is being rolled out to vehicles. The hidden disabilities sunflower is widely recognised for helping people with non-visible disabilities get the support they need in the public domain. In a new partnership with National Highways, the iconic Sunflower can now be displayed on vehicles, enabling drivers and their passengers to let others know that they may need additional support, help or a little more time.

National Highways traffic officers routinely patrol all motorways and some sections of major A-roads in England and are often first on the scene in an emergency. Their priorities are to keep people safe and fully reopen the road as soon as possible. The Sunflower for vehicles discreetly indicates to traffic officers that someone in the vehicle has an impairment which may not be visible.

The possibility of merging personal independence payment (PIP) with universal credit is “on the table” as part of a fresh wave of social security reforms, work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey has admitted. In response to a question from Disability News Service (DNS) at the Conservative party conference in Manchester, Coffey twice refused to rule out the possibility of bringing the two benefits together. DNS had asked her about suggestions of a merger between means-tested universal credit and non-means-tested PIP, raised in July’s disability benefits green paper.

An international group of health professionals, academics, young people, parents, child rights specialists, psychologists and youth workers are working on a project to develop standards for children and young people (aged 0-18 years) undergoing clinical procedures, based on internationally agreed children’s rights set out by the UNCRC (1989). You are invited to share your views about the Rights-based standards to help the team find out if they are useful for children, parents and professionals and if there is anything they need to change.

The National Children’s Bureau is currently recruiting for a Families Research Advisory Group, consisting of parents and carers, to meet several times a year to advise researchers on projects relating to children, young people and families. The group provides parents and carers opportunities to give views about key topics and develop their knowledge of research. It supports researchers to develop information for families about research studies, understand what their findings mean and ensure research is communicated in ways that are easy for families to understand.

The statutory guidance for schools and colleges called ‘Keeping children safe in education 2021’ has been updated and has been in force since September 1st. The Anti-Bullying Alliance has outlined how this guidance relates to bullying, and how these points differ from the previous guidance.