You Said, We Did

The Stoke-on-Trent Local Offer is continually being developed however this can only happen when we have input from parents, carers, young people, schools, partners, service providers and practitioners.

The SEND Code of Practice states:

“Local authorities must publish comments about their Local Offer received from or on behalf of children with SEN or disabilities and their parents and young people with SEN or disabilities.”

This page details feedback we received on the Local Offer since 2023 and how we have responded to the feedback.  If you would like to send in any comments or give feedback about the Local Offer please complete our survey here; Tell us what you think about the SEND Local Offer or email localoffer@stoke.gov.uk

To give us your feedback on the SEND Local Offer's website, complete the website feedback form here; Website feedback – SEND Local Offer

You said about Aiming High:

"Families can miss out on activities due to not booking in time."

Introduction of an online booking system giving parents/carers a digital option of booking activities. Activities are not booked on a first come first serve basis with providers allocating spaces fairly.

"The Parent Carer Forum should be shaping the service. Feedback is gathered but only from families who access the service."

Improved engagement with parents/carers and links with PEGIS to gather feedback and inform service developments.

"Activities can be limited and not varied."

We have partnered with new providers to deliver new activities.We have reduced management costs to spend more of the budget on delivery of activities.

We have increased the core activity offer to two sessions a month. Previously the core offer was 1 session per month with an extra 1 session during school holidays. To make this consistent every month, we have increased this to 2 sessions per month. An annual increase from 19 sessions to 24 sessions.

You said: "It’s too difficult to make SEND transport requests and we can’t easily contact the SEND transport team." 

Recently launched a new application portal for parents and carers. This is much more comprehensive and supports processing applications more effectively. This is something parents and carers have asked for in the past and we have listened to advice given. We now have a direct telephone number for the SEND transport requests team (01782 233737) so the team is more accessible to speak to.

You said: “There’s no updated information”

We did: At the beginning of the year we carried out a major exercise which involved updating information, pages, and links on the Local Offer website; it was a big refresh.

We now have a news section on our homepage to share important updates, and we have a termly newsletter.

You said: “The Local Authority does not invest in the Local Offer”

We did: The Stoke-on-Trent Council decided to bring the Local Offer website ‘in-house’ to sit on a Council platform instead of an external one. Having the Local Offer on an internal platform means we can have more control when developing the website in the future, updates can be done timelier, and there will be overall more flexibility. The Council also appointed a Local Offer Development and Engagement Lead.

You said: “Nobody tells you about the Local Offer”

We did: During the first half of 2023 we sent comms to all our stakeholders (parents, carers, young people, schools, partners, service providers and practitioners) about the Local Offer. We also had articles in the foster carers’ newsletter, had a stand at the Together We Thrive event and have put together a communications plan to continue to raise awareness of the Local Offer. We are regularly visiting other community events, schools and colleges.

You said: “Better information needs to be on”

We did: During the Local Offer refresh we uploaded a lot of new information, we are working closely with parents and carers to find out the information they really want to find on the website. We also want to hear from more young people.

You said: “The website is not multilingual / also does not provide an audio of contents”

We did: We now have a translation tool on the site, we are also looking at having audio for a lot of the pages so that users can have the option of reading text or listening/watching a video.

You said: “Not very interesting” said by a young person

We did: We have had feedback for a ‘young people’s area’ within the Local Offer which is tailored specifically for young people in design and content; we are looking into this and plan to launch the young peoples' area later in 2024.

We have visited schools, colleges and groups and asked young people about the content they would like to see. We have created a young people’s area with information about

You said: Parents wanted to know more about local activities available in the area for children with additional needs – especially during the six weeks holidays, and the cost.

We did: We now have a calendar listing local activities, groups and events on our homepage.

We coproduced a round-up of activities and events for the Easter holidays 2024 with the Parent Carer Forum. It was very positively received and we are continuing to do this for every school holiday.

You said: "There should be actual pictures of Stoke children and young people on the website"

We did: We are looking into this with PEGiS who are part of the Parent Carer Forum and Stoke-on-Trent IT.

You said: "It is hard to find the information we want about special schools."

We did: All special schools and colleges now have the ages of children and young people they educate clearly in the title of their listing. We are working with schools and colleges to tag their listings according to the needs they cater for so website users can search this way.

You said: "There should be a newsletter."

We did: We sent out our first professionals' newsletter in December 2023 and the first families' newsletter January 2024. Both are available for everyone to access from our website.

You said: "It's hard to find the information you want on the website"

We did: We have tagged directory records much more accurately to help when you are searching for them. Our colleagues in IT are working hard behind the scenes to improve the user experience of someone visiting the website, which is making it much easier to navigate around.

You said: "It's confusing that you have to click on the words on the homepage, not the pictures"

We did: We have added links so you can click on the pictures of the main menu as well as the words.

You said: “It’s confusing having to scroll to the bottom of the page to find the search bar.”

We did: We have moved the search bar to the top of the homepage.

You said: “There’s too much writing in big blocks, it makes it hard to find the information you’re after.”

We did: Our web team have worked hard to improve the layout and divide the text into more manageable chunks.