Thank You for Taking Part in This Survey. the Deadline for Responses Is Friday 24Th October

Thank you for taking part in this survey. The deadline for responses is Friday 24th October 2014

The information you provide will be used to assist the Department for Education and NHS England understand local authorities’ implementation of the new statutory special educational needs and disability (SEND) duties set out in the Children and Families Act 2014 which came into force on 1 September 2014.

Please note that only one response per forum should be submitted. Wherever possible, please consult your forum members for their input before completing this form.

If you would prefer to complete this survey over the phone please call Helen Jones to arrange this. Tel: 07738895007 or email

The SEND reforms

The new statutory SEND duties set out in the Children and Families Act 2014 cane into force from September 2014. This means:

Children and young people and parent carers should be at the heart of assessment and planning and involved individually and strategically;

The publication of a local offer of provision for children and young people who are disabled or have SEN, coproduced with parents, young people and local partners;

A new assessment and planning process offering Education, Health and Care plans, with the option of a personal budget;

Joint commissioning, so that local partners work together in the interests of children and young people with SEND;

Mediation arrangements in place, with recourse to a first tier Tribunal.

The new statutory SEND Code of Practice is available at:

The parents guide to the Code of Practice is available at:

Local authorities will be expected to transfer children and young people with existing statements to the new SEN system prior to them making a key transition (e.g. early years to primary school; secondary school to further education) Learning Disability Assessments (LDAs) should be phased out by September 2016 and statements should be phased out by April 2018 – although this can happen more quickly if desired.

Further information can be found in the SEND implementation pack which is available at:

Your details
1. Your local authority area:
2. Your region
3. Your name and role in the forum:
Your name:
Name of your forum
Your role in the forum:
Your email address:
4. Number of forum members involved in considering the response to this survey?
1 > / 2 to 3 > / 4 to 6 > / 7 to 12 > / More than 12 >

Parent Carer Forum Engagement

5.In the opinion of your forum:

Do you have a clear understanding of the new statutory special educational needs and disability duties set out in the Children and Families Act 2014?

Yes / In Part / No / Don’t know

Any further comments:

6. How engaged does your Parent Carer Forum feel the following stakeholders are with the SEND reforms in your area?

Very engaged / Fairly engaged / Not very engaged / Not at all engaged / Don’t know
Your Parent Carer Forum?
Individual parents / carers?
Children and young people?
Social care partners?
Health partners?
Voluntary and community sector partners?
Early years providers?
Maintained schools?
Academies and free schools, including 16-19 Academies?
FE colleges and sixth form colleges?
Specialist post-16 providers (local, regional and national)?
Private post-16 training / employment providers?
Clinical Commissioning Groups?
Health and Well-being Board?
Health multi-disciplinary team?
Community paediatricians?
Children’s therapists?
Public health?
Adult social care?
Adult speech and language therapy professionals?

If you would like to explain any of your responses more fully, please use the space below

Please assess your Local Authorities progress in implementing the statutory duties in the Children and Families Act and the SEND Code of Practice.

7. How confident are you that the education, health and care assessment pathway that you have developedwith parents, young people and partners is fully compliant with the law and will meet the 20 week statutory timeline?

Very / Fairly / Not very / Not at all / Don’t know
Fully compliant with the Code of Practice
Will meet 20 week deadline
The SEND Code of Practice requires LAs to publish a local transition plan (following consultation with education, health and care partners, parent carers and young people, families and professionals) setting out how all children and young people with statements and LDAs will be transferred to the new system. How confident are you that all parents and young people with an existing statement or LDA know the likely date when it will be reviewed, and know that it will have a full ECH plan assessment?

Any other comments?

.

8. How confident are you that all schools in your local authority have a clear system for identifying and responding to SEN?

Very confident – all of our schools are fully compliant
Fairly confident – a majority of schools are fully compliant but there is work to do with a small number to ensure that their systems are compatible
Not very confident – there is a significant amount of work to do to ensure that all of our schools are compliant.
Not at all confident – urgent action is required; even with a significant amount of work there will still be some schools that are unlikely to be compliant.
Don’t know

Any other comments?

.

9. How confident are you that impartial information, advice and support, covering special educational needs, disability, health and social care will be delivered to those that need it?

Very confident – fully compliant. Children, young people and parents/carers (including local Parent Carer Forums and Youth Forums) have been involved in the design of these services to ensure they meet local needs.
Fairly confident – some aspects are good, but some still require substantial attention.
Not very confident – substantial attention is still required.
Not at all confident – urgent action is required.
Don’t know

Any other comments?

.

10. How confident are you that joint commissioning structures are in place across education, care and health, including processes for resolving disputes between partners and stakeholders?

Very confident– fully compliant with the law.
Fairly confident – some aspects are good, but some still require substantial attention.
Not very confident – substantial attention is still required.
Not at all confident – urgent action is required.
Don’t know

Any other comments?

.

11. Which of the following organisations does your Local Authorities joint commissioning cover?

Yes / No / Don’t know
Education services
Health services
Social care services
Adult services
Parents and carers of children and young people with SEN
Children and young people
Other appropriate organisations (e.g. voluntary organisations, CAMHS, local therapists, Jobcentre Plus and their employment support advisers, training/apprenticeship/supported employment providers, housing associations, careers advisers, leisure and play services)

Any other comments?

.

12. Does your Local Authorities’ local offer include information about all the areas specified in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014?

Yes / No / Don’t Know
Special educational, health and social care provision for children and young people with SEN or disabilities (including online and blended learning).
Details of how parents and young people can request an assessment for an EHC plan.
Arrangements for identifying and assessing children and young people’s SEN (including arrangements for EHC needs assessments)
Other educational provision (e.g. Sports or arts provision; paired reading schemes).
Post-16 education and training provision.
Apprenticeships, traineeships and supported internships.
Information about provision to assist in preparing children and young people for adulthood.
Arrangements for travel to and from schools, post-16 institutions and early years providers.
Support to help children and young people move between phases of education.
Sources of information, advice and support in the LA’s area relating to SEN and disabilities (including information and advice provided under Section 32 of the Children and Families Act 2014, forums for parents and carers and support groups).
Childcare, including suitable provision for disabled children and those with SEN.
Leisure activities.
Support available to young people in higher education (particularly the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) and the process and timescales for making an application for DSA).
Arrangements for resolving disagreements and for mediation, and details about making complaints.
Parents’ and young people’s rights to appeal a decision of the local authority to the First-tier Tribunal (SEN and disability) in respect of SEN and provision.
The LA’s accessibility strategy (under paragraph 1 Schedule 10 to the Equality Act 2010).
Institutions approved under Section 41 of the Children and Families Act 2014.

Any other comments?

.

13. How confident are you that your Local Authority will be able to offer personal budgets as part of their local offer?

Very confident – fully compliant. The Local Authority offer extends across education, health and social care, back office systems and support for parents is in place.
Fairly confident – some aspects are good, but some still require substantial attention, for example develop elements of the offer over time (such as personal budgets for special educational provision). Strategies are in place to do this.
Not very confident – substantial attention is still required. For example, the offer is limited to existing personal budgets and there is no strategic direction to develop this
Not at all confident – urgent action is required to meet the statutory requirements
Don’t know

Any other comments?

.

14. What services do your Local Authorities’ personal budgets cover? Please list in the box below.

15. Local Authority 0-25 pre Tribunal appeal/ education, health and care plan mediation arrangements are in place.

Yes - all necessary arrangements are in place / No - plans are not yet in place. / Don’t know
0-25 mediation arrangements
0-25appeal arrangements

Any other comments?

.

16. Our Local Authority plans to deliver the new duty to support children and young people with SEN aged 10-17 who spend time in custody (which will come into effect in April 2015) are:

Complete.
Good progress.
Partially developed
Not started.
Don’t know

Any other comments?

.

Please assess the planning and governance which supports implementation of the SEND reforms in your local authority.

Very confident – staff are fully compliant. / Fairly confident – some aspects are good, but some still require substantial attention. / Not very confident – substantial attention is still required. / Not at all confident– urgent action is required to meet the statutory requirements. / Don't know
How confident are you that staff that are implementing the reforms in your local authority have embraced a culture change that promotes personalised approaches and meets the needs of children, young people and their families?
How confident are you that IT and administrative support systems are in place to ensure effective implementation of the reforms?
How confident are you that systems are in place to measure the impact of the reforms locally and enable effective accountability and quality assurance?
Transferring existing statements and LDAs?

Any other comments?

.

Local authorities will be expected to transfer children and young people with existing statements to the new SEN system prior to them making a key transition (e.g. early years to primary; primary to secondary; secondary to further education). LDAs should be phased out by September 2016, and statements should be phased out by April 2018 – although this can happen more quickly if desired.

18. Does your forum know which groups of children and young people will transfer to EHC plans this year?

Yes
No
Don’t know

Any other comments?

.

19. Are you confident that by April 2018 all children and young people with statements and LDAs will have been transferred to EHC plans?

Yes
No
Don’t know

Any other comments?

.

20. Local authorities will be expected to transfer children and young people with existing statements to the new SEN system prior to them making a key transition (e.g. early years to primary; primary to secondary; secondary to further education). LDAs should be phased out by September 2016, and statements should be phased out by April 2018 – although this can happen more quickly if desired.

Veryconfident. / Fairlyconfident. / Not very confident. / Not at allconfident. / Don't Know
How confident are you that your Local Authority will have completed atransfer review for all children and young people moving from school(including sixth form) to further education and training by 31 May 2015,as set out in the transitional guidance?
How confident are you that parents and young people in your authority understand what is being done to review and transfer statements and LDAs to EHC plans.
How confident are you that your Local Authority will be able to continueimplementing the SEND reforms and embedding the new way ofworking?

Any other comments?

21. At what stage in the process of recruiting to a Designated Medical Officer (whose role is to support the CCG in meeting the statutory responsibilities for children and young people with SEN and disabilities) is your local area?

Named DMO appointed and in post
Appointed to post but not yet in post
Recruiting
Not started
Don’t know

Any other comments?

22. Has your Clinical Commissioning Group appointed a commissioner for children and young people?

Yes
No
Don’t know

Any other comments?

23. Has your Clinical Commissioning Group Board got a clinical lead for children and young people?

Yes
No
Don’t know

Any other comments?

24. Does your forum feel that there is a contact person in the Clinical Commissioning Group that you can raise issues with?

Yes
No
Don’t know

Any other comments about the relationship or partnership with the Clinical Commissioning Group?

25. Has your forum been contacted by your Independent Support organisation?

Yes
No
Don’t know

Any other comments?

26. Is your forum involved with considering and developing the Independent Support offer in your local area?

Fully
Quite a lot
A little
Not at all
Don’t know

Any other comments about your relationship with Independent Support or Information Advice and Support Services?

27. Based on your experience, has your Local Authority encountered significant barriers to implementing the SEND reforms? If so please provide further detail.

Yes
No
Don’t know

Any other comments?

28. The Department would like to share examples of good practice with local authorities to help with implementation.

If there are any areas where you think you have particularly strong examples of practice to share with others, please identify them in the box below.

29. Please rate the usefulness of the following sources in helping to implement the SEND reforms

Very useful / Useful / Somewhat useful / Not at all useful / Not used / Don’t know
Pathfinder Champions
Specialist delivery partners (including Early Support and Preparing for Adulthood)Preparing for Adulthood)
Department for Education SEND advisers
Contact a Family
National Network of Parent Carer Forums

Any other comments?

30. Is there anything else you would want the Department for Education to be aware of?

Thank you!

Thank you for completing this survey. The information you have provided will be used to assist the Department for Education and NHS England as it supports local areas to implement the SEND reforms.