The Government will amend existing legislation for people with disabilities while establishing a specialised unit, ahead of creating a dedicated Act, Parliament heard this morning.

Tinée Furbert, the Minister of Youth, Social Development and Seniors, listed several initiatives planned for the year, including the creation of a Disability Act using insights on rights taken from multiple jurisdictions.

It came as she outlined her ministry’s budget during the national Budget debate.

She said that since last year, significant work had advanced disability inclusion, including analysis of legislative frameworks in other jurisdictions, stakeholder engagement and identifying gaps.

Ms Furbert said: “Based on this engagement, a policy proposal was developed and presented to the ministry leadership outlining two options to address the identified gaps — one, to amend existing legislation and two, to develop stand-alone disability legislation.

“Both options were underpinned by the recommendation to first establish a Disability Unit to ensure appropriate resources and governance to support reform.

“A decision was taken to proceed with amendments to existing legislation alongside the establishment of a Disability Unit.”

She said the unit aimed to establish a strong and sustainable framework for disability inclusion, beginning with taking on a project manager through allocated supplemental funding.

“The unit will be scaled over time as work advances and capacity requirements are further defined,” Ms Furbert explained.

She said engagement would remain core to implementation, drawing on lived experiences.

Overall, the ministry received $97.27 million, up $6 million or 7 per cent on last year.

The Disability Unit would be established under the ministry headquarters which received $16 million through Ageing and Disability Services, which got $2.37 million, representing a $460,000 increase.

Ms Furbert added that ADS was well positioned to fulfil its mandate including the development of the proposed Disability Act.

In 2024, the Government also introduced the island's first Disability Register with the goal of facilitating greater inclusion.

The business unit Grants to the Third Sector received $4.46 million, up 21 per cent including $300,000 for funds related to nursing homes, residential facilities and homelessness.

The Department of Child and Family Services received $22.82 million — a nearly $1.7 million rise from last year.

Much of the cash covered services to individuals and families, at $6.23 million, and administration, which grew by 7 per cent to $2.66 million and the Mirrors Programme, which spiked from last year’s $838,000 budget to $1.13 million.

Residential treatment funding fell by 11 per cent from $11.9 million in 2025.

It includes $4.19 million for family preservation services, $1.58 million for Brangman Home for children and $2.45 million for the Overseas Therapeutic Programme, formerly known as the Psycho-Educational Programme.

School programmes were given $1.85 million boosting their $1.74 million funding from last year by 3 per cent.

The cash will go to 23 programmes that monitor children after school, before school or while out of school.

Youth community centres received $3.03 million to fund three — a 19 per cent rise from last year’s $1.72 million.

The Department of Financial Assistance’s budget grew by 4 per cent compared with last year’s budget, bringing it to $58.4 million.

Most of the cash — $53.39 million — will go to grants and contributions, while $5 million will go to administrative costs, including $4,392,00 for salaries.