Feeding back on the Local Offer
We love hearing from you. Without insightful feedback we don’t know what you want us to improve. We really want to make this site work for you.
You’ll find a link at the end of each page where you can tell us if there is a problem with information or if something isn’t working properly. Information provided is anonymous. Is it not clear, not up to date or correct, or not working? How can we make it better?
You can also email us at localoffer@somerset.gov.uk or message us @LocalOfferSomerset on Facebook.
Reporting what you tell us
Each year we summarise statistics on usage, key messages from feedback, and our actions and plan for the next year in our Local Offer Annual Report. But feedback doesn’t come in just once a year so this page is kept up to date with feedback as we receive it and what we are doing about it.
Over the year we have acted on your feedback. See more information about how we have done this below.
Awareness
Parent carers said the site is really helpful and they wish they had been told about it sooner. In response, we
- have developed some publicity resources and are encouraging professionals to use these when they meet with families, posters have been shared with schools, GP surgeries, hospitals and libraries
- have developed a training module to help people who advise families to understand what SEND is, what the Local Offer is and how it can be used
- are attending events such as coffee mornings and Family Fun days with a stall to help raise awareness
- are attending meetings of professionals and voluntary organisations who advise families such as Connect Somerset hubs, SENDIAS, Contact Centre, Healthwatch
- are providing regular updates to newsletters such as SEND News, Education Bulletin, Early Years Bulletin, GP Bulletin, Children’s Social Care Update to inform professionals of key page updates to be aware of
Lack of a roadmap
Parent carers said there isn’t a roadmap to say this is where you are and this is your next step.
We have made clearer pathways through information using steps to show where you are in the process and what comes next. Last year we used a new format on the Education, Health and Care Plans pages. The pages takes you on a journey breaking down the process into steps, which is often numbered. Eligibility criteria and supporting documents or referral forms are available in the relevant steps to avoid overwhelming before you get to that point. It is clear what comes next but also what should have happened before.
This year we are adding or updating more sections to this style. For example, Somerset’s Graduated Response Tool, sensory processing pathway, Autism and ADHD Pathway, and preparing for the future.
Contacting services
Parent carers have let us know when the contact details provided don’t work for their communication needs.
We are reviewing content to ensure both a telephone number and email address are available where possible.
Accessing downloads
Parent carers and professionals are telling us that links to document downloads are not working.
We identified there can be a problem with firewalls stopping users accessing a sharepoint system outside of their own organisation’s. Often this can be overcome by using the browser in incognito mode. We are encouraging school and organisations to adjust their firewall settings, to avoid needing to do that.
We are looking into other document file storage options as well.
Broken links
Feedback forms are mainly used by people to tell us of broken links.
We have a program that tells us if there are broken links – the webpage no longer exists – so we can try to make sure this does not happen. But, this process won’t tell us if the webpage linked to still works but no longer has the content we told you they have. Somerset Parent Carer Forum audit pages every year to catch these broken links. Please continue to use the feedback form at the bottom of every page to let us know if you find any links not working or not showing what you expected to see.