On this page you will find details of SEND related surveys and consultations (most recent first). These come from a variety of sources.
Where possible we also publish the survey or consultation results and keep our parent network informed about any further developments.
HCC surveys to inform the SEND Summit and new SEND Strategy (2026-31)
In September, Hertfordshire County Council is holding a SEND Summit. This will bring together Councillors, representatives from health, education and social care, and parent carers. HCC say the Summit will use all of the listening, and improvement work that has come before, to decide on the key areas and approach to SEND, which will be laid out in the new SEND Strategy 2026 – 31
Before the Summit, HCC want to hear from children, young people and families. This is a great chance for decision-makers in Hertfordshire to listen directly to the people affected by their decisions.
You can give your views via this survey that HCC have set up (it is open until 31 July). A shorter version is also available, as is a survey for children and young people.
Improving how schools support mental health and emotional wellbeing
The SEND Mental Health Support Team (MHST) works in schools to support students with mild to moderate mental health difficulties. They asked us to host a survey for them, to help understand how schools support mental health and emotional wellbeing and what families would like to see in the future. The survey closed on 16 June and a summary of findings is available here.
HPCI 2024 parent carer survey
Our third annual survey closed on 3 November 2024. We received 1,414 responses from families across Hertfordshire, covering all age groups, a wide range of needs and a variety of education settings. A summary of the survey’s findings and how we are using the information gathered can be found here.
HPCI 2023 parent carer survey
HPCI’s second annual survey was open in September and October 2023. We received 931 responses and our summary report can be found here.
Hertfordshire’s Ofsted / CQC Area SEND Inspection June – July 2023
A local area SEND inspection is when Ofsted (the Office for Standards in Education) and CQC (the Care Quality Commission which inspects health and social care) jointly inspect a local area to see how well they fulfil their responsibilities for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
This survey helped inform the Inspectors’ views as they made their judgement, which found that “There are widespread and/or systemic failings leading to significant concerns about the
experiences and outcomes of children and young people with special educational needs
and/or disabilities (SEND), which the local area partnership must address urgently.” You can find more information about the report in our update to members of 10 November.
Alternative Provision Survey May-June 2023
HPCI ran this survey to make sure that we understand the views and experiences of families whose children or young people (aged 5-18) with SEND are using or have accessed Alternative Provision (AP) within the last six months.
What is Alternative Provision (AP)?
AP is a wide banner, which is used to describe education arranged by local authorities or schools for pupils who, because of exclusion, illness, lack of a suitable placement, or other reasons, would not otherwise receive suitable education. In Hertfordshire, this includes:
The survey closed on Sunday 4 June and a summary of the results is available here.
HCC Surveys for parent carers and young people with Autism and / or ADHD.
HCC asked us to tell families about two online surveys, one for parent carers and one for young people. The young people’s survey was for those aged 9-16 with a diagnosis of autism, ADHD or both. The one for parent carers was for parent carers of young people who are aged 9-16 and who they either suspect have autism and / or ADHD or have a confirmed diagnosis.
The surveys closed on Tuesday 6th June 2023.
HPCI First Annual SEND Survey November 2022.
This survey was for parents and carers in Hertfordshire who have children and young people aged 0 – 25 years with SEND (Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities). We will be running this survey every year so we can see what is improving and what issues families are still facing. The survey closed on 13 November 2022, and you can find summary of the responses here.
Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) Survey June 2022
HPCI ran this survey for Hertfordshire families whose child(ren) has, or may have, SpLD such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, dyscalculia and dysgraphia. It asked about the support they currently receive and what they thought would make a difference to their child’s education. A summary of the findings from this survey are available here and we have met Hertfordshire County Council to share these (anonymously) and to push for improvements.
Sport Break Survey February 2021
This survey was open to parent carers of children and young people with SEND in Hertfordshire and sought to help us better understand the demand for, or interest in, a possible new sport/health based Short Break provision in Hertfordshire. 91 parent carers completed the survey from across the county and their responses related to children and young people across the 0-25 age range and with a range of needs, the most common of which were autism, ADHD and learning difficulties. HPCI would like to thank all the parents and carers who added their views. These have now been shared with Sport Works, to inform the development of their service proposal, and with the commissioning team at Hertfordshire County Council.
A summary of the results can be found here: Summary of Sports SBLO survey results
Hospital Admissions Survey November/December 2020
This survey gathered information about what matters to families when their child or young person with SEND is admitted to hospital. 64 parent carers completed the survey from across the county, covering all age ranges of CYP from 0-25. The full results, which included many helpful suggestions, have been shared with the working group at East and North Herts Hospital Trust, which includes a parent rep from HPCI, and will feed into staff training. The results have also been shared with both the West Herts Hospital Trust and the Paediatrics department at Lister Hospital and we hope that they will be used to inform future improvement projects.
Many thanks if you completed the survey. A summary of the results can be read here Survey results summary SEND CYP Hospital admissions
Return to Education Survey October 2020
This survey was to see how things had gone over the first lock down for families and in the return to school. Thank you to the 192 parent/carers who completed the survey and we have produced a summary which you can read November 2020 survey summary
HPCI has shared the results with senior service leaders at HCC and we are in the process of working with them on how they are responding to the findings.
Complex Health Needs Survey run in October 2020
This survey was for the parent carers of children up to age 11 who have complex health needs looking at key working for families in the pre-school phase. It was completed by 39 parent carers which is a really good number for this type of need. The results of the survey are here Those results will also be used by the HPCI parent rep and others working on the project. It is good news that the recruitment process for a key worker for the pre-school families of a child with complex health needs has begun. We really welcome this development which we are confident will make a positive difference to those families. Survey results summary Complex Health keyworkers
Moving and handling survey for parents of children and young people with significant physical needs run in October 2020
This survey was open to parents of children and young people who have significant physical needs and who use specialist equipment in their home at the moment or may do in the future. 16 parents completed the survey and you can read the Survey results summary Moving and handling training for parent carers . The results have been shared with those working on this project including HPCI’s parent rep.
HPCI support and communication from education settings Covid 19 Survey – May 2020
Thank you to the 330 parents who contributed to this survey. We used the findings from the survey to feedback to Herts County Council Children’s Services about the issues parents were facing. You can download a summary of the findings here HPCI Covid 19 May 20 survey summary
HPCI Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD) Survey – February 2020
In February 2020 we conducted a survey for any parent or carer of children aged 3 to 25 with Specific Learning Difficulties (SpLD). This includes dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD/ADD (attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder), dyscalculia or dysgraphia, either identified or suspected. The survey was to help gather evidence of the picture of the current experience of families with SpLD in Hertfordshire.
Thank you to the 159 parents who completed the survey – you can download the summary of findings here: Summary of HPCI SpLD survey results
