Information for
Families
Annual Report
2014 -15
Contents
1. Roles of Information for Families ..................................................................... 3
2.
Service activity .................................................................................................. 3
2.1 Activity 1 – Providing information and advice to families and partners
about services for children and families............................................................. 4
2.2 Activity 2 – SEND Information, Advice and Support Service for children
and young people with SEND and their parents and carers ............................. 7
2.3 Activity 3 – Building capacity in the community ........................................ 11
2.4 Activity 4 – Updating information about services and providers ............. 12
2.5 Activity 5 – Improving customer service- ICT infrastructure and web
information .......................................................................................................... 13
Appendix 1 - SEND IAS service – Information advice and support to children,
young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their parents
and carers ............................................................................................................... 15
Appendix 2 – SEND IAS (information, advice and support) - Customer
Feedback................................................................................................................. 18
Appendix 3 - Databases used by Information for Families ................................ 20
2
1.
Roles of Information for Families
The purpose of the Information for Families service is to inform, advise and support
families to access support and services and to work effectively with others in relation
to their children. It is the main contact point for East Sussex Children’s Services.
Information for Families delivers the following statutory functions:
 Family Information Service – Local authority duty to provide comprehensive,
accurate, up-to-date information on childcare and other local services and
support for parents of children and young people up to age 20 and 25 with
SEND (Childcare Act 2006, Section 12)
 Information on Positive Activities for Young People - Local authority duty to
secure and publicise young people’s access to positive leisure time activities,
including youth work, recreation, volunteering and cultural activities.
(Education Act 1996, section 507B)
 Special Educational Needs and Disability Information, Advice and Support
service (SEND IAS) for children, young people and their parents and carers
(Children and Families Act 2014, chapter 2 of SEND Code of Practice 2015)
Information for Families is supporting the following statutory functions:
 Information and advice service for adults with care and support needs and
their carers (Care Act 2014, section 4)
 Local Offer for children and young people with special educational needs and
disabilities - information and feedback (Children and Families Act 2014,
chapter 4 of SEND Code of Practice 2015)
2.
Service activity
This section is divided into five key activity areas:

Activity 1 –Providing information and advice to families and partners about
services for children and families

Activity 2 – SEND Information, Advice and Support Service for children and
young people with SEND and their parents and carers

Activity 3 – Building capacity in the community – Parent Information Contacts
and i-go leisure access card

Activity 4 – Updating information about services and providers

Activity 5 – Improving ICT infrastructures and web information
3
2.1 Activity 1 – Providing information and advice to families and partners
about services for children and families
This includes the provision of information and advice about childcare, leisure
activities, education, parenting, etc. Includes supporting children’s services teams,
such as admissions and complaints, to meet customer demands.
2.1.1 Helpline
Table: Customer demand for family information and advice
Q1
3121
Incoming
contacts
Dealt with by IFF 74%
and not
transferred to
another council
team.*
(2013/14- 68%)
How IFF was
89% phone
contacted
11% internet
Requested
services top 5
subjects as a %
of total requests
51%
Admissions
23% IFF
7% EYEE
4% Duty
4% SEND
Q2
3182
Q3
2559
Q4
3441
78%
71%
67%
92% phone
8% internet
95% phone
5% internet
93% phone
7% internet
45%
Admissions
24% IFF
10% EYEE
5% Duty
4% SEND
45%
Admissions
23% IFF
6% EYEE
6% Duty
5% SEND
41%
Admissions
25% IFF
7% EYEE
6% SEND
5% Duty
Note- Data collection is challenging, due to the various systems we have (Cisco for
phone reporting, CRM for ESCC requested services contacts, PKHD for general IFF
enquiries, PKHD and PAYP databases for updating of all service providers).
However, a key part of this year’s work has been on developing plans for
consolidating and improving database management see Activity 5 below.
4
2.1.2 Facebook
The Facebook page delivers up to date, relevant and local information on activities,
services and other useful information for families of varying needs.
https://www.facebook.com/InformationForFamilies
TOTAL REACH
30000
25956
25000
20000
16614
15192
15090
15000
10000
5000
0
Apil - June
July September
October - December
January - March
‘Total Reach’ calculates the total number of people who saw a post. That includes
Fans and non-Fans and it also means reaching people with and without ads. It
means reaching people within their News Feeds, on your Page and as shared by
friends.
5
LIKES
250
227
200
150
108
100
84
66
50
0
Apil - June
July September
October - December
January - March
After a user ‘likes’ something on IFF Facebook page, they will then receive all of
IFF’s posts from then on. Total likes April 2015= 1300.
6
2.2 Activity 2 – SEND Information, Advice and Support Service for
children and young people with SEND and their parents and carers
2.2.1 Local authority duty
The new SEND Code of Practice requires the local authority to provide a dedicated,
easily identifiable SEND information, advice and support (IAS) service which is
impartial, confidential and accessible, with the capacity to handle face-to-face,
telephone and electronic enquiries. It requires the service to provide for children and
young people in addition to parents and carers (the previous Code required a ‘parent
partnership service’ only). The Code also indicates the nature of the IAS to be
provided. There are national standards for IAS services.
2.2.2 SEND IAS service to parents and carers
2014-15
Number of SEND IAS customers in year. (There has been
a change to the recording of IAS cases during the year.
Estimate based on data for Nov to March. Some under
recording. Figure includes estimate of 15% under
recording. Includes estimate of some under recording at
20%.)
317
Average actions per enquiry i.e. advice given, liaison,
meeting, help with paperwork, disagreement resolution
(from sample of 109)
4.9
Customers requiring just one action (from sample of 109)
18%
Maximum actions per enquiry (from sample of 109)
44
Meetings attended
2 per month= 24
Meetings- unmet need (requests for meetings marked on
calendar)
8 per month= 96
What families needed advice about
Details in
Appendix 1
7
What families need SEND IAS advice about (from sample of 109 clients)
Coming to East
medical needs
Sussex with
in education
statement/EHC
Other
Transfer from
statement to EHC
exclusion
Transition to a
new phase (not
statement/EHC)
EHC assessment
SEN support (not
statement/EHC)
Annual review of
statement/ EHC
8
2.2.3 SEND IAS service to children and young people
We have not seen much demand specifically from young people. However in
addition, C360 website for young people is being redeveloped, with young people, to
include SEND information.
2.2.4 SEND IAS customer feedback – see Appendix 2
2.2.5 SEND partnership work

Independent Support (Core Assets)
There is a good working relationship with Core Assets. There are referrals from
IFF to Core Assets and vice versa as appropriate and there is partnership
working to support some families. The focus of Independent Support is to help
children, young people and their families with the EHC assessment process
only. It is short term if advice is needed beyond EHCs or there is an appeal or
other disagreement, However, IAS is still needed, therefore referral
arrangements are in place. Customer feedback will inform future
commissioning when government funding for Independent Support ends in
March 2016.
www.coreassets.com/what-we-do/independent-support-service

Parent groups and voluntary organisations
There have been Email bulletins to 40 parent support groups and visits to some
groups.
Outcomes


Estimated reach 1000 families

Increased use of SEND IAS service by parent support group
members.

Increased awareness of parent groups about SEND reforms

Some groups’ training needs identified
Insider’s Guide course
Insider’s Guide training aims to improve the resilience of parents and carers of
children with SEND. Twenty four parents completed a short course delivered by
a parent and a professional from Aurora Academies Trust. There has been
partnership work to find new trainers.
9
Outcomes

Parents reported feeling supported, valued and acquired greater
confidence and coping skills.

Increased capacity and new partners to deliver courses: - 8 parents
and professionals from Fostering team, Aurora Academies and
Families for Autism trained as trainers.
www.parentlinksussex.org.uk/help-and-information/insiders-guide

Parent Voice News
Parent Voice is aimed at parents and carers of children and young people with
SEND. There are three editions to 3600 families each time. They are also
distributed via parent support groups, Parent Information Contacts, Children’s
Centres, other council teams, health visitors and school nurses.
Outcomes
 Positive feedback from families shows they are inspired, less isolated,
finding information, getting involved. Articles have inspired two new
parent support groups to start and more queries to the SEND IAS
service
http://www.parentlinksussex.org.uk/newsletters
2.2.6 Participation and feedback

Feeding back families’ experiences
The SEND IAS has fed back to SLES (school advisor service) that guidance to
schools on SEN Support planning needs to be clarified, to improve practice. It
has set up arrangements to feed family’s experiences into Local Offer planning
Outcomes


Agreed that SEND IAS service and SLES will jointly review guidance
and SEND IAS service to provide training session to newly qualified
teachers
Participation and demonstrating impartiality

New SEND IAS steering group established, with terms of reference and
partners from sectors including health, voluntary and parents and
carers

Workshop with young people on how they would like to receive advice
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2.3 Activity 3 – Building capacity in the community
2.3.1 Parent Information Contact (PIC) training
PICs provide information and signposting to families and fellow staff in schools,
children’s centres and libraries. They are trained by Information for Families with
other partners.
Outcomes

62 PICs trained on 6 courses.

Participants reported that they felt better informed about the information available
for families and about the SEND local offer. They reported they better understood
their role and better understood how to involve their community.
http://www.parentlinksussex.org.uk/pic
2.3.2 i-go leisure access card
I-go is a programme that enables providers to improve their accessibility for disabled
children and young people through ‘inspections’ and guidance through the i-go
scheme. The i-go card provides children and young people with discounts and
accessibility arrangements at 75 leisure providers in East Sussex. 880 applications
have been received this year. Two disability awareness sessions were delivered to
providers (training by Albion in the Community, Spectrum, i-go project manager).
This is a 2 year joint project ending Sep 2015 between Rockinghorse charity and
ESCC and is funded by The Big Lottery Fund and ESCC.
Outcomes

Survey showed that 25% had increased their use of services. 70% had shown
improvements in awareness of facilities and 30% reported an increased
knowledge in where to find out about leisure. Improved accessibility of providers.
Young Inspectors visited 4 providers (3 visits each and follow up) and made
recommendation in the form of ‘quick wins’ and ‘in an ideal world’. Changes
made by providers e.g. Freephone taxi booth moved down the wall for wheelchair
users.

Best Practice guide planned (with ESPACC checklist). It will be a guide, a selfassessment tool and a staff training tool – may be multi media.
http:/www.parentlinksussex.org.uk/i-go
11
2.4 Activity 4 – Updating information about services and providers
There are nearly 3000 providers of services to families held in various databases
and these are fed to www.escis.org.uk , www.connexions360.org.uk and
www.eastsussex.gov.uk including the SEND local offer.
Table showing activity in relation to work with providers
Providers
updated 1)
Outreach
Q1
1980
Q2
2007
Q3
1860
Q4
1313
70
30
250
0
Total
7160
1)IFF is responsible for keeping information on provider services up to date –e.g.
childminders, nurseries, leisure, health, family support and others. Updates are
carried out via email and incoming or outgoing phone calls. Each record is
moderated to ensure data protection regulations and our statutory information duties
are met. We also process a daily feed of registered providers from Ofsted.
2) Outreach to parent groups and support organisations, to enable them to meet the
information and advice needs of families
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2.5 Activity 5 – Improving customer service- ICT infrastructure and
web information
2.5.1 Databases
IFF manages a number of databases which record contacts, feed websites and
provide information to children, young people parents/carers and professionals about
services available. The following is a précis of how they are used in no particular
order.
The focus this year has been to address the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of each database and
develop a plan for consolidation. A key decision that has resulted in reduced
expenditure for 2015/16, has been the planned discontinuation of the use of PKHD,
and the forthcoming migration of PKHD, PAYP information into Tribal, which is
currently used by other services such as Early Years and Admissions.
There will be further implementation and consolidation during 2015/16 of all
databases which will make channel shift much easier for those customers able to
access the web. See Appendix 3 - Databases used by Information for Families.
2.5.2 Web project development
In addition to its role to feedback comments from users on the quality of web
information, in 2014-15, a new target for IFF was included in relation to responsibility
for leading on a webpage review. IFF worked in partnership with Corporate
Communications to develop a protocol for managers to ensure their web information
was clear and up to date. SMT agreed that the first priority areas were IFF,
Complaints, Admissions and Transport. SMT agreed that supporting CSD
colleagues to provide accurate and accessible information is key to being a more
effective and efficient local authority.
A series of workshops were facilitated with support from IFF. The webpages have
not as yet been amended, as Corporate Communications was not able to deliver in
this financial year due to workload. It is hoped that the changes will be made by the
end of May, in partnership with the Local Offer lead.
2.5.3 Improving phone messaging systems
The phone system is currently being updated with changes to the call flow system, to
encourage callers to use online information and to direct them to the right avenues
for information, due by end of April 2015. This will include: letting people know that
information is available on the website and childcare info on ESCIS; identifying
vulnerable families and give first point of contact about school/academy complaints
which will hopefully reduce these calls; routing calls specifically to the SEND IAS
support; and others.
13
IFF supports Complaints and Admissions and takes their calls at peak times of the
year. This has considerable impact on the resource but ensures the public can still
make contact.
14
Appendix 1 - SEND IAS service – Information advice and support to children,
young people with special educational needs and disabilities and their parents
and carers
What customers needed advice about (sample of 109 customers)
Coming to East
medical needs
Sussex with
in education
statement/EHC
Other
Transfer from
statement to EHC
exclusion
Transition to a
new phase (not
statement/EHC)
EHC assessment
SEN support (not
statement/EHC)
Annual review of
statement/ EHC
SEN support (51%)
The most common query is from parents who do not feel their child is getting the
SEN support they need and they are having difficulty communicating with the
education provider (usually schools, but also nurseries and colleges). The child is
often missing education, either by unlawful exclusion, formal exclusion,
attendance, or parent withdrawn to home educate. Commonly, these parents do
not have a clear SEN support plan showing the outcomes, provision and review
arrangements and this is the focus of Information for Families input.
Information for Families advises on the graduated approach, expectations on
schools including funding and the criteria for EHC assessment. We help with
checklists, liaison with SENCOs etc., but this is not always adequate. Parent
feedback tells us that parents would like more support at meetings.
15
Annual review of statement/EHC (11%)
Parents most commonly call for help after their secondary transfer review if they
have been turned down for a special school or for transport.
Information for Families advises on the legal points, supports communication,
helps parents to look at options and put in place a practical plan in case the
parent does not get what they want, e.g. at appeal.
Parents also call for help where part of the statement is not being implemented
by the school e.g. a therapy plan, or the parent does not feel that the Assessment
and Planning Team is helping them. The child is sometimes out of school while
discussions are happening.
Information for Families advises on the local authority’s responsibilities and the
need for a specific statement and helps with communication.
EHC assessment (7%)
Parents most commonly ask for help because their child is not receiving
education while the EHC assessment is in process, for example, an unlawful
exclusion or attendance problem. It has been appropriate to refer to Independent
Support for less than half of these, as issues are usually about conflicts rather
than the process of EHC assessment.
Information for Families advises on law and provides practical support to liaise
with the school/ local authority.
Transition (not statements or EHCs) (6%)
Families commonly contact us because they are getting unclear information
about the process of transition or their options. This is particularly the case for
post 16 and post 18 planning.
Information for Families helps in the way it does for SEN Support Plans above.
Exclusion (6%)
Formal exclusions and unlawful exclusions are often a feature of the other issue
types shown here. For example, SEN support planning. However, we also advise
where exclusion is the primary issue and these children are nearly always
children with SEN, in particular autism.
Information for Families helps parents understand the law, their options and helps
them communicate their wishes. The focus is always the reintegration of the
child.
16
Transfer review- statement to EHC plan (4%)
Most requests for help are directed to Independent Support Core Assets, but
Information for Families’ input has so far been needed for 4 families, as their
issues are beyond the scope of Independent Support.
Coming into East Sussex with a Statement or EHC (4%)
These parents contacted us because their children had moved into East Sussex
but were not yet receiving education. Information for Families clarified the duties
on the local authority and helped parents to liaise.
Medical needs (8%)
The most common queries are from parents who feel ‘turned away’ from primary
schools when looking for reception year places and parents whose children are
excluded from school trips or even parts of the school day due to personal care
needs.
Information for Families clarifies the law to the parent/ school and helps with
liaison/ resolving complaint. Some parents inevitably choose a different school so
the issue is not always addressed.
Other (3%)
17
Appendix 2 – SEND IAS (information, advice and support) Customer Feedback
1. Spontaneous compliments, comments and complaints
Several positive comments from parents explaining that provision had improved as a result
of the service, and that signposting and referrals had been useful.
For example, this parent itemised the benefits of support at a meeting:
I would like to thank you for attending the school meeting with us last Friday. There were a
number of noticeable differences as a result of your presence and input. 1. Steering the
meeting into positive directions and smart goal focused discussions. 2. Clarifying a system of
recording and documenting the meeting. 3. Enabling us as parents to feel we had a voice
and support to express our concerns. 4. Assisting the SENCO to write the SEN plan with
clear and measurable outcomes. 5. It may seem insignificant but for the first time we were
offered a cup of tea. This really helped to create a relaxed atmosphere. So thank you again
for attending and your valuable contributions. Should there be a way of feeding back to
commissioners of your services to demonstrate the need and value of your service for
parents please let me know and I would like to write to them.
Two customers were concerned that the service had consulted other teams without their
explicit consent. This is required under the SEND IAS service as the SEND Code says the
service must be ‘arms length’ from the local authority. It is not required for the general
Information for Families service. In these instances, the two roles got mixed up. (issue 1‘arms length’ service information sharing policy)
2. Survey
14 customers, chosen randomly were surveyed.
All customers except one were happy with the service. Several positive comments were made
about good customer service, and the positive effect of advice, in particular increased
confidence to take action for their child.
One customer was not happy with the service and was very disappointed not to receive
support with planning meetings at school.
Although happy with the service, two others also suggested more advisers to support parents
at school meetings.
4 customers said there had been no change as a result of the service. This may have been
due to support at meetings not being available. (Issue 2- help at meetings)
There was an indication that staff varied in the quality of the advice they gave (issue 3 - staff
expertise)
18
3. What we will do
Issue 3- arms length service
Review the service offer for SEND IAS, including the information sharing policy, and staff
training.
Issue 2- help at meetings
We need to help more parents at meetings. Therefore we will:
Continue to use other ways to support parents if we cannot attend a meeting, i.e. liaising with
the school beforehand, preparing agendas, coaching parents on meeting skills.
Continue our plan to train and support parent groups and voluntary organisations to provide
support at meetings.
Work with the steering group and commissioners to increase the resources for meetings.
Issue 3- staff expertise
Continue to train and supervise our less experienced skilled staff.
19
Appendix 3 - Databases used by Information for Families
Tribal – this is a database used by school admissions and Early Years Education
Entitlement team. A full review of moving/consolidating all our providers to this took
place during the year. However, delivering the Local Offer then took precedence and
this was put on hold.
1-space – this is a market place tool for selling services to adults including care
homes and personal care. Time was spent reviewing the feasibility to use this web
tool to support providing web information for CSD. This was not continued due to the
need to refocus ICT support to meet the deadline to produce the Local Offer by
September 1st.
ESCIS – this is the website where IFF childcare & drop-in information has been
available to the public for many years. Following the above two reviews, resource
was invested to upgrade ESCIS to ensure its search facilities were improved. There
is also a plan to upload all IFF data to feed this site, therefore making much more
online provision available. Information is uploaded regularly to ensure accuracy and
up to date information is provided by IFF.
MCA – the Parent Know How Database is still in use for the majority of providers.
This is kept up to date daily and includes a daily automated data feed from Ofsted for
Registered Childcare Providers as part of our statutory requirements. This is used to
store provider information and to record IFF core customer requests e.g. childcare,
leisure, support group, drop-in information. (This system is used to record multiple
information sent out).
Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP) is an in house built database which
feeds connexions360 web fulfilling our statutory duty for the Youth Offer. This
includes: things to do, places to go, health information and events as well as clubs
and leisure.
CRM – Microsoft Customer Relationship Management system – this is where
customers for CSD departments are recorded. The system has limitations due to the
complexity of recording contacts within it. This system is mainly used for anonymous
recording of “one subject” requests.
SEND IAS data - excel spreadsheet
20