COUNCIL bosses are being urged to u-turn on proposed cuts to a vital service offering support for children with disabilities and their carers.

Lancashire County Council will today decide on whether to axe more than £1 million in funding for the Breaktime programme, which offers parents and carers respite.

The scheme had been set to receive £683,000 in funding next year and £357,000 in 2020/21 but proposals to slash this form part of the council's proposed budget, which members will decide whether to back at a full council meeting.

Lancashire Breaktime offers group activities which currently are difficult to provide through assessed support packages like direct payments.

A petition has been launched ahead of the council's budget meeting today where spending plans for the next financial year will be decided.

County councillor Lizzi Collinge said: "Kids in Lancashire with disabilities and/or special educational needs (SEND) use Breaktime to get regular respite and let their carers have a break.

"Lancashire County Council are now proposing to end Break Time funding entirely. The service helps families avoid crisis by giving everyone a break.

"It is currently open to SEND kids without a formal social care assessment and the closure will mean these kids having to go through waiting for social care assessments, having to meet increasingly high thresholds of need, and stretching social care workers even further."

Almost 1,000 people have signed the petition urging councillors to reconsider the proposal.

If the cut goes ahead, the numbers of children and young people requiring assessment and subsequently receiving assessed packages of support would be monitored and consideration given to the impact of this on the service capacity.

Council bosses say axing the programme's funding as part of cuts totalling £120m over the period 2019/20 to 2022/23 could have a negative impact on the local authority's reputation.

A council spokesman said states: "We will consult with parents, carers and young people and communicate the proposed change and reasons for this.

"There will be some mitigation through the development of clear information to parents and carers, through the Lancashire Local Offer, of potential alternative provision that may be accessed by children and young people without an assessed need.

"[There will be reputational risk] through parental representation regarding the reduction of Lancashire Breaktime on social media and through complaint as well as potential risk of escalation to national support organisations.

"We will consult with parents, carers and young people and communicate the proposed change and reasons for this.

"More broadly, we will build on the improvements and investments made in SEND services since the inspection to ensure that children and young people with SEND are able to access support appropriate to their needs."