Law Commission recommends radical reform of disabled children’s social care law
3 mins read
Tuesday 16 September 2025
The Law Commission has today published its final report on reforming disabled children’s social care which calls for a new legal framework, national eligibility criteria and a legal duty to assess and meet the needs of disabled children.
The report highlights how outdated and fragmented laws from the 1970s and 1980s have created confusion, inconsistency, and unfairness for families with disabled children who seek help from social care services.
Opportunity to fix a broken system
Contact’s CEO Anna Bird welcomed the report, describing the proposals as a “a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix a broken system that leaves thousands of families of disabled children without vital support.”
She added: “There are more children living with complex health needs and disabilities, but it has become increasingly hard to qualify for social care support. Criteria is shrouded in mystery and different depending on where you live. And the application process has been too focussed on safeguarding and created a culture of parent blame when families are simply asking for help.
“The proposed reforms would not only relieve pressure on families caring 24/7, they also would reduce pressure on schools who are often left to pick up the pieces from social care failings. And it would help reduce poverty. We urge the government to accept the proposals in full and start on reform without delay.”
Take action
Contact is asking families to join us in our calls to the government to implement the reforms. Parents can use this template to email their MP to urge the government to accept the reforms and implement them swiftly. (This will take less than a minute).
The letter asks your MP to write to Josh MacAlister, Minister for Children and Families, urging the government to accept the recommendations and publish an implementation plan within two months.
What are the Law Commission’s key recommendations?
The report includes 40 recommendations for legislative reforms including:
- National eligibility criteria to end the post code lottery of care for disabled children.
- A new single statutory duty to assess the social care needs of disabled children,
- A single duty to meet the eligible social care needs of disabled children, based on national eligibility criteria.
- A requirement for direct payments to be sufficient to cover the actual cost of meeting a disabled child’s assessed care needs.
- New statutory guidance for local authorities and families
The Law Commission recommends that people assessing disabled children should be required to have ‘the skills, knowledge and competence” to do so. It also calls for a single duty that would enable parent carers to request an assessment for themselves.
Children, parents, and carers should be in developing the new statutory guidance and national eligibility criteria. The Law Commission proposes a phased introduction of national criteria to allow time to assess their impact on local authority budgets.
Contact worked closely with the Law Commission to ensure they spoke parent carers. The final recommendations are in line with our key social care asks for families.
What happens next?
The Law Commission’s report is laid before Parliament this month,
The Government has up to six months to provide an initial response to the Law Commission recommendation and up to a year to provide a full response stating which law reforms they plan to take forward.
Find out more about Contact’s position on social care.
Download a detailed explanation of Contact’s social care asks.
