Many youngsters have long waits for their needs to be assessed. And equipment such as standing frames – like the one pictured here – are rationed through lack of cash.

Disabled adults, on the other hand, have to wait only 24 days for their needs to be assessed.

Calderdale Council Children and Young People Scrutiny Panel chairman Megan Swift said the situation was shocking.

She said: "I want to know how this has been allowed to
develop and why action has not been taken before now.

"It cannot be acceptable that children who may have severe disabilities are waiting up to two years for their needs to be assessed.

"That means two years when parents will have to cope in homes that may desperately need adaptation, and when children could be going without equipment that could make their lives easier and help them to manage better with their disabilities."

The panel was told the two-year wait was partly due to children's changing needs as they grow, which can mean several review visits are needed and equipment must be changed more frequently than for adults. They also heard the disabled children's team is suffering from a lack of staffing, with only one full-time occupational therapist.
Complex funding arrangements add to the difficulties, with five separate budgets, depending on where the equipment is used.
Eight children are waiting for standing frames because money has run out before the end of the financial year. A review of the service is now taking place, but will not be completed until next July.
Sue McMahon, of Calderdale NUT, suggested a children's charter to make sure parents of disabled young people knew what they were entitled to. Councillor Craig Whittaker said: "The situation is not right yet but we are working incredibly hard to fix it as quickly as we can. Let's make the service at least as good as the one adults have." Members of Calderdale Parents and Carers Council (CPCC) will visit the panel on Tuesday to give their views on the issue.
Katie Clarke, of CPCC, said: "We know there are waiting lists of up to two years to have an assessment from an occupational therapist to receive the equipment disabled children need. There are only two pa