Short Breaks – What Parents Need to Know

Short breaks are activities for children with disabilities and their families. Short breaks are sometimes called respite care. Local authorities have a legal duty to provide short breaks for children with disabilities and their families under the Children Act 1989 and the Breaks for Carers of Disabled Children Regulations 2011. This duty ensures that families receive support to maintain and improve the quality of care they provide, allowing carers time away from their caring responsibilities.

What's Happening?

Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) is currently redesigning the Short Breaks offer in Wokingham to better meet the needs of families. Any changes must be shaped by parents, carers, and young people, so SEND Voices Wokingham (independent parent carer forum for the Borough) have been asked to run a survey to ensure parent carers can feedback their thoughts and views. We are keen to hear from families who currently have WBC Short Breaks as well as those who may want to access this service in the future.

The link to the survey is here: Short Breaks Redesign Survey 2025
Closing date: Sunday 8th June

What's Available Now?

At the moment, Short Breaks are provided through the Children with Disabilities (CWD) Short Break Team. Families need an assessment to access targeted or specialist Short Breaks support. If you have more than 1 child accessing Short Breaks please fill in a survey for each child.

What Could Change?

WBC are looking at how the Short Breaks budget can be used more flexibly – including support earlier on, and more preventative activities. The aim is to offer a wider range of support for more families.
They are considering all types of Short Breaks, including:

- Group activities for children and young people
- Short breaks the whole family can enjoy together
- Personal assistants to support your child
- Activity buddies to help your child take part in fun and meaningful activities


All responses to this Short Breaks Redesign Survey 2025 will be anonymous. We will share a summary of the results with the team working on the Short Breaks redesign and a copy of the results will also be available on our website.


How Else Can I Get Involved?
Wokingham Borough Council are running 3 Focus Groups (each session is the same):

Wokingham Library
Tuesday 24th June, 10.00 - 11.30am

Online via Microsoft Teams
Tuesday 24th June, 6.30 - 7.30pm

Woodley Airfield Centre
Thursday 26th June, 10.00 - 11.30am

To book a place on one of the sessions or for more information, please email: Sarah.Desson@wokingham.gov.uk

The groups will discuss topics in more detail including:
* What short breaks your child would like
* How long the short break should be
* Where the short breaks should be
* The time of day that they should happen
* What mainstream activities your child currently accesses
* The barriers that your child faces accessing mainstream activities