NPH have been involved in lots of different consultations, participation and engagement activities over the last couple of years. Please scroll down to find out more about what NPH has been up to and what it is currently doing:

Nottinghamshire County Council – Flexible Short Breaks Service (FSBS)

Nottinghamshire County Council – Review of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities

We are currently asking members and parent carers across Nottinghamshire what their thoughts are of our 2017 Priorities. Please let us know what you think as this will help to influence what we focus on in the future.

If you would like parent carer participation with a particular service or provision that you are thinking of changing or implementing, then please don’t hesitate in contacting us as we would be more than happy to assist you. You can find out more about how to engage with us here.

Education

Ofsted and Care Quality Commission (CQC) Local Area Inspection

Ofsted and CQC visited and inspected Nottinghamshire in the summer of 2016 to review how the local area has fulfilled its duty and responsibility to children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) since some changes took place after the introduction of the Children and Families Act 2014, and in particular, the SEND Code of Practice.

They looked at evidence of how individuals with SEND are identified, how their needs are met, examples of outcomes achieved and also how they are supported in the transition to adulthood.

As an important part of the assessment the inspectors wanted to spend time speaking to children, young people and their parent carers. NPH, the recognised parent carer forum for Nottinghamshire, were involved from the beginning to the end.

Please click here to read the Ofsted / CQC Report of Nottinghamshire.

Nottinghamshire County Council – Support in School

The local authority approached NPH to ask members about the information schools are providing for families which explains the type and level of support that is on offer for children and young people in an educational setting. After consulting with the group and subsequent feedback, they decided to start from scratch based on the views and opinions expressed by parents and carers.  Respondents felt the proposed leaflet was too bland, full of words and acronyms which made it difficult to read and understand. We suggested that they keep it simple and short, use pictures or diagrams to explain things and don’t use acronyms.

Health

Integrated Children and Young People’s Commissioning Hub

Public Health asked NPH for a representative to sit on a tender panel to decide the outcome of an integrated children and young peoples health service. NPH were involved in the original design of the tender specification and evaluated responses from providers alongside commissioners and other reps. NPH have been asked to remain involved with the contract in a monitoring and quality assurance capacity to ensure the provider is delivering everything they said they would based on their tender submission.

Social Care

• Using personal budgets or direct payments for transport
• Parent Partnership/Ask Us
• Independent Supporters
• Nottinghamshire information, advice and support network – NPH were pivotal in helping the Local Authority decide on a name and branding for the new service which will be launching in 2016.
• Personalisation team – POET survey on EHC and personal budgets
• Local Offer website
• Transition pathway and protocol

Events and meetings that NPH have attended:

• Contact a Family national parent carer conference
• National Network of Parent Carer Forums (NNPCF) AGM
• East Midlands Regional Parent Carer Forum – hosted by Contact a Family and National Network of Parent Carer Forums
• Regional Preparing for Adulthood Workshops participant
• Nottinghamshire County Council’s Transition Pathway and Protocol
• Representative at the Nottinghamshire Concerning Behaviours Pathway steering group
• Nottinghamshire Information, Advice and Support Network – rebrand and marketing
• One off events, for example, Nottinghamshire Bestwood Parent Carers Conference

The following training opportunities have been offered to NPH members:

• Understanding challenging behaviour and supporting behaviour change
• Sleep Workshop
• Parent carer participation and the role of their local forum
• Paediatric First Aid Training
• Contact a Family Webinars which include finance, roles and responsibilities of a parent carer forum, and parent carer expenses
• Family information events organised by the Short Break and Personalisation teams at Nottinghamshire County Council
• Information sessions on Independent Support across all four localities e.g. North, South, East and Central

If you know of a particular training, development or information need for parent carers in your area, please don’t hesitate in contacting us as we would be happy to explore options with you.