North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has raised concern that disabled children are unable to access services and activities, such as swimming lessons, and called on the Welsh Government to take action to remove the barriers they are encountering.
In yesterday’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, Mr Isherwood highlighted how disabled children are missing out because of the barriers they face and asked the First Minister what her Government is doing to address the issue.
He said:
“As Chair of the Cross-Party Groups on Disability, on Autism and on Deaf Issues, barriers to accessing services and activities encountered by disabled children are regularly raised with me.
“At the 20th February meeting of the Cross-Party Group on Disability, we received a presentation on the Evaluation Report on Swimming lessons for disabled children by charity Sparkle and Disability Sport Wales. Eighty-one per cent of family-carers said there were barriers to accessing community-based swimming lessons, the majority involving neurodiverse children.
“We heard that, despite swimming being a compulsory part of the National Curriculum in primary schools in Wales, many disabled children are, effectively, excluded due to a lack of accessible facilities, disability-trained instructors and inclusive provisions.
“These findings are especially concerning given that drowning is one the leading causes of child trauma-related death, with a 46 per cent increase in child drownings in 2022 compared to the five-year average.
“What action will you, therefore, take to ensure that this cross-cutting issue is addressed and that disabled children are not failed and left behind?”
In her response, the First Minister thanked Mr Isherwood for “all the work you do on the Cross-Party Group on Disability”, stating “You are an absolute champion for the cause, and I think that's something that's recognised throughout this Chamber”.
She added:
“The Disability Rights Taskforce and the Children and Young People and Well-Being Working Groups have been working on issues in relation to children and disability, and they underlined the importance of accessible and inclusive services for all disabled children and young people.
“The disabled people's rights plan has been shaped. It's being completed as we speak. It has involved 350 external stakeholders, which includes children, and that will be consulted upon very shortly. There will be opportunities then for people to feed back in that process.”
Speaking afterwards, Mr Isherwood said:
“I regret that the First Minister failed to answer my specific question on a serious matter. Whilst I welcomed the establishment of the Disability Rights Taskforce, its nature and terms of reference limit its work to the general rather than the specific, when Disabled people facing barriers need both.”