In late 2024, the Additional Needs and Disabilities (AND) Partnership ran the Parents’ Voices Matter (PVM) survey. This survey was to help the partnership understand the views of parents and carers of children and young people with AND in Surrey.
The PVM 24 Survey was open to anyone in Surrey who is a parent/carer of a child with AND. 1,006 people responded to the survey, representing 1,304 children and young people. This is about 2.8% of the 45,000 children with AND in Surrey.
You can find out about the key themes coming out of the survey, and the work the AND Partnership is doing to improve the experiences of families of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), in the Parents Voices Matter Survey Infographic (PDF).
We would like to thank everyone who took the time to take part in the Parents’ Voices Matter survey. Feedback is very valuable to us, and we greatly appreciate the time and effort taken to complete our surveys and engage in consultations.
The results and the improvements we are making
The results highlight key areas where we need to improve, particularly with regard to communication and trust between families and the services we provide.
We are working extremely hard here in Surrey to improve our services for children with AND. In September 2023, we invested an additional £15m into a three-year multi-agency recovery plan, and the variety of work being undertaken is starting to make a difference.
The first stage of our improvement plans focused particularly on education and health care plan (EHCP) timeliness, assessments and quality. These key priority areas were identified as needing immediate attention, and significant improvements have since been made.
By December 2024, 80% of all children and young people with an EHCP had an up-to-date Annual Review recorded up from 37% in January 2024.
91% of Education, Health and Care Plans issued in February, March and April 2025 were issued within the 20-week timeline, compared to 16% in January 2024.
97% of Education, Health and Care Plans audited in December 2024 were rated as outstanding, good or satisfactory, exceeding our target of 80% and the previous measure of 73% taken in January 2024.
We have caught up on the backlog of Education, Health and Care needs assessments (EHCNA), and over 75% of overdue annual reviews have now been brought up to date.
The number of children on a waiting list for a Neurodevelopmental (ND) assessment was 2,637 in December 2024, compared to 4,055 in January 2024.
What's next?
Our current priority on our improvement journey is on building relationships and effective communications with families. The survey results confirm these areas are still an issue for some of the parents who responded.
Here are just a few of the actions we are currently taking to make improvements to our relationships and communications with families:
New face-to-face and online drop-in sessions will allow families to speak directly with key staff for guidance. This is following previous feedback we received from families who told us they wanted the opportunity for more regular face-to-face meetings with SEND Staff.
A dedicated Mediation and Dispute Resolution team is now in place, working with families to resolve disagreements early. This approach ensures children receive appropriate support as quickly as possible, as well as reducing stress for families and unnecessary legal costs.
A dedicated helpdesk now answers enquiries regarding Education, Health and Care Plans and the needs assessment process, arranging a call back with a case officer if needed. The latest data shows a 90% call-back rate within two days.
Development of a new online portal is underway to allow parents to directly access EHCP-related information.
Provision and support for children with AND is a systemic issue that councils up and down the country are grappling with. The national system is not working for families, schools or councils, and we and other bodies are consistently lobbying government for wider system changes, additional funding and urgent reform.
We are determined to continue to improve and to provide even better outcomes for children. We are working on these improvements in co-production with parents and carers, children and young people, schools and partners.
Read more about the survey results and the work being done to improve families’ experiences in the Parents Voices Matter Survey Infographic (PDF).
Who is the AND Partnership?
Surrey's AND Partnership brings together services for children with additional needs and/or disabilities. The membership includes representatives from the council, education, health, social care, the third sector and user voice partners. You can find out more about the AND Partnership on the Local Offer website.
Read the full results of the Parents’ Voices Matter survey (PDF)
Files available to download
-
Parents Voices Matter Survey Infographic (PDF)
This is an 8 page summary report of the results from the Parents Voices Matter 2024 survey -
Parents Voices Matter Full Survey Report (PDF)
This document contains all the results of the Parents Voices Matter 2024 survey