10. Question No. 10—Disability IssuesHon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN (Labour) to the Minister for Disability IssuesQuestion No. 10—Disability Issues10. Hon PRIYANCA RADHAKRISHNAN (Labour) to the Minister for Disability Issues: Why have disability support funding criteria changed recently to now exclude the use of funding during school hours and does she accept that many disabled people and children rely on flexible funding to be able to access critical support?Hon LOUISE UPSTON (Minister for Disability Issues): Multiple Government agencies have responsibilities for funding disability support including the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha and the Ministry of Education through its learning supports. The recent changes to the purchasing guidelines reflected the Ministry of Disabled People's view that the Ministry of Education is responsible for funding support during school hours. I sympathise with all children and families who may have different support due to the changes and I acknowledge that this may have caused distress. The independent review of disability support funding will be looking into how the whole-of-Government supports work together so that disabled people get the essential support they need.Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan: What does she say to the mum whose 11-year-old daughter diagnosed with autism and ADHD and chronic health challenges who relies on a special one-to-one gymnastic therapy class to help improve her muscle tone and regulate her anxiety levels will no longer be able to access support because of this new change?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I said I sympathise with the impact that any changes may have had. The primary question was about the use of funding during school hours and our Government recognises the importance of school attendance so much so that we have set a target to ensure children are attending school—this is all children and an expectation that all children get the education they deserve.Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan: What does she say to the mum whose 12-year-old son attends Mockingbird that helps autistic children cope with school and is offered only during school hours who says—and I quote—The only thing helping my child hold on is knowing he has Friday at Mockingbird where he can relax and be himself and now this is being taken away from him."?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I said I understand how challenging it is for parents. Having navigated the system as a parent of a child who needed additional support at school I understand how challenging it is. But our Government is committed to ensuring that children are at school during school hours and that education provides a support and assistance while children are at school. It is unfortunate that important services like this are operating during school hours when we actually want children to be in school and get the support for their education at school.Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan: Is the Minister committed to continuing the transformation of the disability support sector in line with the Enabling Good Lives (EGL) approach and if so how are these changes consistent with EGL principles?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: Well one of the principles in Enabling Good Lives is the concept of mainstream first. And to directly quote: "Disabled people are supported to access mainstream services before specialist disability services." A review of the disability support services is under way clearly because there were challenges in the ministry being able to live within its financial means. Additional support has been provided up to 30 June this year. Our commitment is to ensure that Disability Support Services is not a substitution for other Government services and that we are able to consistently and deliberately deliver the essential services that disabled people need.Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan: Has the Minister sought confirmation from the education Minister that her Government will fund schools to cover the cost of these programmes now that they can no longer be claimed through disability support funding and if not why not?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I said there are different Government agencies that deliver services for disabled people. For disabled school children the expectation is that they are at school. I've visited a number of schools who go so far above and beyond to ensure that the disabled children in their schools get the support they need. That's exactly what we are committed to. I accept fully that it is incredibly challenging for some families.Hon Priyanca Radhakrishnan: Is the Minister aware of a report by The Education Hub released recently that said there are a growing number of neurodivergent children at schools but that inadequate resourcing lack of knowledge and training about how best to support neurodivergent children is taking a substantial toll and if so how can she then justify cutting what little support these children currently have to be able to cope with school?Hon LOUISE UPSTON: As I said I know it is incredibly challenging and this growth in neurodiverse students in our schools is creating some challenges. If the member has specific questions that relate to education I'd invite her to put those to the Minister of Education. My responsibility and what the review will look at is how to ensure that the Disability Support Services is sustainable; that it delivers for disabled children people their families and their carers; but that it is not substituting funding that is available in other Government agencies that are providing disability support."