SEND Local Offer Annual Feedback Summary 2021
Gathering and acting on feedback regarding the Local Offer is not only required as part of the SEND Code of Practice, it is also vital in ensuring the Local Offer is as helpful as possible to those who use it.
How have we gathered feedback about the Local Offer this year?
- Feedback gathered through the Local Offer website
- Feedback received from the User Voice and Participation Team
- Feedback received through user testing
Feedback gathered through the Local Offer website
Visitors to the website are encouraged to offer feedback via a dedicated web page. This feedback is recorded and responded to by the Local Offer team, the main themes this year were:
Services wanting to update or change details on our Directory:
The majority of the feedback was from services wanting to change or update their directory records. This feedback is helpful in ensuring that users have access to accurate and up to date information.
Our response to these enquiries has been to update records and to provide a link to the updated record for those providing the feedback to check. Services have generally been positive about the timeliness of the response to their enquiry.
Incorrect information:
In some instances, feedback was given by services to say that information on the Local is incorrect. Often this was because workers or aspects of a service have changed.
Our response in these instances is to ensure the information is updated, we also routinely manually update directory and web pages, to ensure accuracy.
Whilst all this information is helpful in making the website run smoothly, it does not highlight gaps in services or provision, making it difficult to offer any suggestions around the commissioning of services.
Feedback from the User Voice and Participation Team
Alongside the Local Offer website, there is also an email enquiry service, which responds to enquiries, feedback or queries that those visiting the site may have. In 2021 the User Voice and Participation (UVP) Team agreed to carry out a short mystery shopping exercise of our Local Offer email enquiry service. These enquiries came from parent/carers, young people and team members from the UVP team, the feedback they provided us was:
| Was the person who contacted you helpful? | Total |
|---|---|
| Not at all helpful | 0 |
| Could have been more helpful | 1 |
| Quite helpful | 2 |
| Very helpful | 4 |
| How do you feel about how long you waited for a response to your enquiry? | Total |
|---|---|
| I waited too long | 1 |
| I had to wait a while | 3 |
| I got a quick response | 2 |
| I got a really quick response | 1 |
| The advice I got was helpful and clear | Total |
|---|---|
| It wasn't at all helpful and clear | 0 |
| It could have been more helpful | 1 |
| It was ok | 1 |
| It was helpful and clear | 4 |
| It was very helpful and clear | 1 |
| Did you feel the Advisor cared about the reason for your call/email? | Total |
|---|---|
| No | 1 |
| Maybe | 2 |
| Yes | 5 |
| How happy were you with the service? | Total |
|---|---|
| Not at all happy | 0 |
| Not happy | 2 |
| It was ok | 0 |
| Happy | 5 |
| Very Happy | 0 |
| What would have made the response or service better? |
|---|
"Maybe by including the information required in the email [instead of a link] as there was only 4 contacts numbers, this would of made it better and a bit more easier to get the information. The link provided was good and led you directly where you needed to go. Was a good response and gave the information I needed". |
"N/A. The response was clear, and the advisor populated a helpful list of resources". |
"The fonts were different throughout the text and maybe instead of saying thanks put thank you as it's a bit more professional. When the number and email is added it's just a bit out of nowhere so explain here is the contact detail for the group etc". |
"It was a comprehensive response so no suggestions for improvement". |
"Quicker response but the delay in replying wasn't unreasonable". |
"Maybe showing a bit of empathy. I just got a reply with loads of links and nothing that was reassuring". |
"A more timely response alongside clear information". |
| "The response was prompt, timely and polite but some elements had clearly been copied and pasted from previous communication for example the advisor referred to my "son" when I hadn't mentioned whether or not it was my son or daughter that I was contacting them about. all in all, it was informative though and the signposting was helpful and appropriate". |
Our response to the User Voice and Participation Team
After receiving the feedback, the team met to discuss the results before getting back in touch with the UVP Team with the following feedback:
You said: Your responses could be clearer |
|---|
Examples of comments you made: "Maybe by including the information required in the email [instead of a link] as there was only 4 contacts numbers, this would of made it better and a bit more easier to get the information" "When the number and email is added it's just a bit out of nowhere so explain here is the contact detail for the group etc" |
We did: When we met about this, we realised we might be structuring our responses to enquiries in different ways. We are changing it to the way you suggested here, as while this may be a bit more time consuming, we see an email in this format, being more helpful. |
You said: Make your response look and sound more professional |
|---|
Examples of comments you made: "the fonts were different throughout the text" "maybe instead of saying thanks put thank you as it's a bit more professional" |
We did: We agreed we will take greater care over the formatting/wording of our emails as whilst the feedback was generally positive, first impressions are important. If an email isn't in the same font or sounds unprofessional this may be off putting to the reader. |
You said: Show that you care |
|---|
Examples of comments you made: "The response was prompt, timely and polite but some elements had clearly been copied and pasted from previous communication for example the advisor referred to my "son" "Maybe showing a bit of empathy. I just got a reply with loads of links and nothing that was reassuring" |
We did: When we reviewed our responses, we discussed how important it was to routinely greet people warmly, thank them for their enquiry and offer them the chance to get back in touch if needed. Sometimes where it is relevant, we will use services we have suggested in previous enquiries, we agreed when doing so we needed to ensure that we were personalising the response to the enquirer. |
We plan to work with the User Voice and Participation Team again in 2022, details are in the how we plan to collect feedback in 2022 section of this page.
Feedback received through user testing
In late 2020 a consultation regarding the Local Offer was carried out, where many users rated their experience of using it as poor or very poor. Whilst users described finding the information on the Local Offer helpful, they had very mixed experiences of finding what they were looking for.
To resolve these issues with navigation, in February 2021 it was agreed to move the Local Offer website to a new provider called SQUIZ by the end of the year. This gave us the opportunity to carry out detailed user testing regarding the new site.
Using the consultation feedback, we produced a beta version of a new website, which we asked for feedback about from practitioners, parent/carers, and young parents. We heard back that they felt the new site was an improvement and that navigation around the site felt easier.
After making refinements based on this feedback further user testing based largely around navigation on the site was completed. This continued until the new site went live in December 2021.
The key feedback themes from these sessions, which we incorporated into the design of the new site were:
- To use real young people/families in images on the website, rather than cartoon or other types of images.
- To have more video content/ the option to get content in more than one format (i.e. text and video)
- To have more images and colour generally
- To include links to support organisations throughout the site
- To make sure parents are aware of their legal entitlements regarding SEND support
In addition, a recurring theme during the consultation and user testing, was a lack of clarity about what the Local Offer was, who it was for and how it could help. We therefore developed a video to explain this. We have positioned this on the homepage of the website and also intend to use this video in promotion of the Local Offer.
Prior to the site going live and afterwards Family Voice Surrey, have also very kindly agree to set aside some time for a parent/carer to review the wording of numerous pages on the Local Offer, to ensure they are parent/carer "friendly". We have rewritten this information wherever possible based on their feedback.
How we plan to collect feedback in 2022
Feedback is vital to ensuring that the Local Offer is as helpful as it can be. Along with our existing methods of gathering feedback we intend to carry out surveys, user testing and learn from best practice elsewhere. Specifically, this will entail:
- Establishing user groups that meet regularly
- Asking the User Voice and Participation Team to review the site
- Receiving peer reviews from other Local Authorities