SEND and Alternative Provision Partnership Annual Survey Report 2024/25

Your feedback has been vital so that we continue to measure how effective our services are in Cumberland. We have summarised some key themes from our survey, as well as actions we are taking to address the feedback provided. You can also download the full survey report.

Parent/Carer Survey: 155 Reponses

• 81% selected their child was at compulsory education age (5 to 16 years)
• 38% selected their child was female
• 61% selected their child was male
• 1% selected gender non-conforming
• at least one person from each town/city completed the survey
  • highest response rate was from Carlisle (43%)
• 72.6% selected ‘autism’ as a primary need
• 60% selected their child/young person had an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP)

Child/Young Person Survey : 33 Responses 

• 67% were ages between 11 to 15 years
• 60.6% selected their nearest town or city as ‘Wigton’ - this suggested a setting in Wigton encouraged children to complete the survey
• there were no responses from children/young people who attended a specialist education setting

Key Themes:  

EHCPs: 93 Responses

• Responses were very mixed, but the most selected answer for most of the questions when asked about different parts of their child/ young person’s EHCP was ‘very dissatisfied.’ The exceptions to this were ‘Completing Section A’ and ‘The contents and support/ provision outlined in your child/ young person’s EHCP’ which both had ‘somewhat satisfied’ as the most selected answer.
• Highest levels of ‘very satisfied’ responses related to ‘Annual Reviews’ (24.4%). This is when adjusted to account for ‘NA’ responses. Including these, the highest ‘very satisfied’ responses were regarding ‘Completing Section A’ (23.7%).
• Highest levels of ‘very dissatisfied’ responses related to EHCP Coordinators (34%).

When asked for further comments, the survey outlined:

• the process is difficult and lengthy
• there is a lack of support
• poor communication
• parents/carers are left feeling they are the problem, and that it is overall a negative experience
• a few comments highlighted their child receives great support now that an EHCP is in place

Health 

• Responses were again mixed, however the most selected answer by respondents was ‘agree’ when asked questions about their experiences with health services, such as if their child was listened to and respected, if they were listened to and respected, if professionals were overall supportive, etc. ‘Agree’ was the most selected answer for every question.
• Highest levels of ‘agree’ were in ‘Aware of primary needs’ (36.9%).
• ‘Strongly agree’ received a very similar response rate across all questions (approx. 7% for every question).
• Highest levels of ‘strongly disagree’ were in ‘I am listened to and respected by health professionals,’ (17.8%).
• 57% of respondents selected ‘no’ when asked if they felt their child/ young person waited and appropriate amount of time to be seen by health professionals related to a diagnosis pathway.
• When asked about specific health services, several respondents for each selected ‘N/A’ and some selected that they were ‘declined service’. Results for Speech and Language Therapy and Occupational therapy were mixed, with both receiving just over 50% positive responses from those who said they had accessed the service.
• 73% of the responses regarding CAMHS (Children/ Adolescent Mental Health Service) were negative.

When asked for further comments, some said:

• health services were very difficult to access
• there were a lot of barriers in place
• waiting times were long, but the service was excellent when they were seen 

Other feedback included:

• feeling like they were constantly answering the same questions about their child
• parents/carers were expected to discuss their child/young person’s struggles while they were in the same room

Education 

• 65% of respondents said their child/young person attended a mainstream setting
• 15% selected their child/young person attended a special school
• other responses including:
  • attends an early year’s placement
  • they have a place in education, but they do not attend (EOTAS)
• responses to the education questions were more positive, with each question receiving over 50% ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’ answers. This included:
  • if their child was happy in their education setting
  • can access appropriate learning
  • was well supported by staff
• ‘happy in their education setting’ received the most ‘strongly agree’ responses (32%)
• the highest proportion of ‘disagree’ responses was in relation to child/young person accessing learning appropriate to them (28.6%)
• highest proportion of ‘strongly disagree’ was related to children/young people being well supported by staff (19.2%)

When asked for further comments, responses were very mixed. This depended on the child/young person’s education setting:

• some respondents were positive about their experiences
• some mentioned the school tried their best but within limited means
• others mentioned schools were unsupported and lacked understanding
• children/young people said that school could feel stressful if staff and teachers don’t understand them, and that bullying can be an issue

Social care 

• 14.6% of respondents said their child accessed some form of social care. The choice of options were:
  • direct payments
  • targeted short breaks
  • overnight short breaks
  • holiday activity and food programme (HAF)
• social care services received a score of 4.3 out of 10 when respondents were asked for a rating (10 being the best, 1 being the worst) 

When asked for any further comments, responses included:

• there being a lack of information available for social care services and how they are accessed
• targeted short breaks were not suitable for children/young people with personal care needs and services were too far away to access
• finding suitably trained staff for child/young person’s complex needs was difficult
• positive feedback on social care was given for the HAF programme
• there was some positive feedback for targeted short breaks providers  

Other feedback 

• Children/young people raised that transitioning to adulthood is a worrying time, and that there is a lack of support.
• 65% of respondents said their child/young person attended a mainstream setting. 15% selected their child/ young person attended a special school, with other responses including ‘attends an early years placement’, ‘they have a place in education but they do not attend’, ‘EOTAS’, and others.
• Responses to the education questions were more positive, with each question receiving over 50% ‘strongly agree’ or ‘agree’ answers. This included if their child was happy in their education setting, can access appropriate learning to them, was well-supported by staff, etc.
• ‘Happy in their education setting’ received the most ‘strongly agree’ responses (32%).
• The highest proportion of ‘disagree’ responses was in relation to child/ young person accessing learning appropriate to them (28.6%) Highest proportion of ‘Strongly disagree’ was related to children/ young people being well supported by staff (19.2%).

Please visit our You said, we're listening web page for more feedback.