To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on respite care for children with disabilities from (a) the public purse and (b) voluntary contributions in each of the last five years. (162265)

I have been asked to reply.

The Department does not currently collect or hold this information. The Department of Health currently collects data on expenditure on foster and residential care, although it cannot currently be disaggregated to give expenditure on respite care alone However, from 2008-09, my Department will take the lead in collecting this data, which will include information on local authority expenditure on short breaks for disabled children. The Government are investing significant additional resources into improving services for disabled children, as part of the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme, and seeking to improve the collection of data locally to enable better planning and monitoring of services.