LLO: you said, our response

The Leeds Local Offer provides information for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their parents or carers in a single place. It shows families what they can expect from a range of local agencies including education, health and social care.

The SEND Code of Practice outlines the requirements for Local Offers. The Local Offer websites have two key purposes

To provide clear, comprehensive, accessible and up-to-date information about the available provision and how to access it, and
To make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations by directly involving disabled children and those with SEN and their parents, and disabled young people and those with SEN, and service providers in its development and review.

We act on all feedback we receive from children, young people, parents, carers and professionals. Below is a list of the feedback we have received in 2021 and what changes we have made.

If you would like any information on the Leeds Local Offer website developments email LLO@leeds.gov.uk

Leeds Local Offer you said we did

Annual reports

Leeds City Council must respond to all feedback and comments received about the Local Offer on an annual basis, and outline what actions have been taken in response to the comments received.

The Leeds Local Offer annual reports include information about:

Leeds Local Offer website and mechanisms for sharing information with families.
Voice and influence of children, young people and their families.
Next steps.

For further information please contact the Leeds Local Offer at LLO@leeds.gov.uk

Annual reports

Developing and review the Leeds Local Offer website

2024 - a new Leeds Local Offer website

Based on feedback received from children, young people, parents, carers and professionals over the last 4 years a new Leeds Local Offer website has been developed.

Members of the Leeds SEND Youth Council and Leeds Parent Carer Forum took part in the user testing of the new website. Click here to download the user testing report.

The new website will be continuously reviewed the Leeds Parent Carer Forum and the Leeds SEND Youth Council.

2023 – Leeds SEND Youth Forum review the website

The Leeds SEND Youth Forum attended an online session on the 13th February 2023 to review the young people’s section on the Leeds Local Offer website.

All feedback and recommendations for improvement to the website have been actioned and responded to.

2022 – Developing the young people’s section

In November 2021; young people from the Powerhouse (West SILC post 16 provision) contacted the Leeds Local Offer to share their experience of using the website. From January to April 2022 students met with the Local Offer and SEND Voice and Influence Coordinator on a weekly basis to review the information on the young people’s section. A full redesign took place and students undertook a user testing section before the young people’s section was finalised on the 25th April 2022.

A summary of the changes that were made to the young people’s section of the Leeds Local Offer directly from feedback and suggestions made by students from the Powerhouse.

Any sections / information removed from the young people’s section are still available in the parents / carers and professionals sections.

2021 – Health section review

The Leeds Local Offer website is a place for us to provide information in one place about services for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and their families.

We have lots of information on the Leeds Local Offer website about education, careers, transport, fun activities, health services and lots more.

The health section on the website is quite confusing and contains a lot of out-of-date information. So, in November 2021 to January 2022 we asked young people, parents, and carers in Leeds what information about health services they would like to see on the website to assist in the redesign of the health section.

2020 – Review and Redesign

Young people, families and professionals were asked to feed into the redesign of the SEND Leeds Local Offer website.

The consultation took place September to October 2020 and the new look website will be relaunched early 2021.

Leeds Local you said we did

Leeds Local Offer you said our response

2024

You Said	Our response
Information about preparing for adulthood transitions support is unclear	We have updated the preparing for adulthood transitions information on the website. A gap has been identified in support for students without an EHCP, this is being raised via the Voice and Influence Transparency Working Group.
Direct payment policy and information to be updated.	We have updated the information about personal budgets and direct payments on the website, including a link to the TriX website which has detailed information about the policies and procedures.
I just wanted to say that I think the new site is really well laid out and easy to navigate and it’s great to be able to easily access information about all of the options for secondary schools really easily.	N/A
It would be useful if the Alternative provision section included a link to some of the different APs and AIPs within Leeds so parents know their options.	A list of alternative provisions and area inclusion partnerships is now available on the website. https://www.leedslocaloffer.org.uk/education/specialist-send-places-and-settings/aps-and-aips
A website that is easier to use and navigate with clear and concise information.	In April 2024 a new Leeds Local Offer website was launched. Development of the new website took into account all the feedback received over the last 4 years from young people, parents, carers and professionals. Members of the Leeds SEND Youth Council and Leeds Parent Carer Forum took part in the user testing of the new website, click here to download the user testing report.
Clear information about Early Help	The new website includes a section on Early Help, which also includes a video to explain what Early Help is.
Information about personal budgets.	Information about personal budgets and direct payments has been added to the new website.
Accessibility of the website.	The accessibility has been improved on the new website, including the option to change the language.
More information about specific support for learning establishments.	The SEND and Inclusion practice framework has been added to the new website. This section provides information, advice and guidance for education establishments in Leeds.
Have the option to filter results by disability.	A disability filter has been added to the filter options on the new website.

2023

Date	You said	Our response
May 2023	Accessibility of the website Completely inaccessible and hard to navigate Not as clear as other Local Authorities. Seems to take longer than it should to find information. Clunky looking on mobile phones. Search function not always brilliant. Make it accessible to families where English is a second language.	The website is hosted externally, and is a directory-based website. Over the last three years we have worked with the website providers to address the accessibility and functional functions of the website. However, due to the website being a directory-based website the functions are limited. The team responsible for the Leeds Local Offer website are exploring options for a new website.
May 2023	Promoting the Leeds Local Offer Publicise to parents via GPs, health visitiors etc. A twitter page as well as facebook Further promotion through communities and schools Speak to families directly via coffee mornings	The team responsible for the Leeds Local Offer will continue to promote the website. The promotion of the Leeds Local Offer and the offer to visit support groups will added as a regular article in the bi-monthly Leeds Local Offer ebulletin. A Leeds Local Offer twitter account will be explored as part of the forward plan for developments.
May 2023	Services and information for 16 plus and young adults More services for older young people and supporting transition to adulthood. Difficult to find potential services and activities for over 18s and past 23. Add a page for ‘things to do for over 25’s. Post 16 and Post 18 options flow charts. Step by step guide / FAQ for people transitioning. Link to the government website for apprenticeships.	The Preparing for Adulthood section on the Leeds Local Offer has been reviewed. All comments and feedback were included within the review.
May 2023	Would like to see more information and guidance around assessment of additional needs e.g. how schools are involved, GPS, right to choose	A Leeds Local Offer information booklet has been developed with families and services, the booklet is an introduction to SEND and the support available within Leeds.
May 2023	More information about specific support for learning (colleges)	Will be added to the forward plan as an area of development to the Leeds Local Offer website.
May 2023	Professionals offer for progression – make professionals aware of offers available.	The Leeds Local Offer ebulletin has a professional’s information, training and support section. There is also an information, training, and support section for professionals on the Leeds Local Offer website.
May 2023	There isn’t any clear information about Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) on the LLO website.	Information about EOTAS has been added to the LLO website, and is also being included in the LLO booklet that is being produced.
March 2023	The Leeds Local Offer website was reviewed by Rotherham Parent Carer Forum as part of the annual peer review. Comments and suggestions for improvements: Add information about how to access the LLO without internet. Continence Services section to include information about U16s continence services. Information is available about EHCP's but needs to be made clearer for families. Links to SEN policies for colleges and universities. Clearer information about apprenticeships and supported internships. Identifying and assessing SEN - review information and add links to other services that can support families on their journey. Add personal budget policy. What LA expect from education settings needs updating. Review the have your say section for young people.	An ‘introduction to the Leeds Local Offer’ tile has been developed on the front page of the website. The introduction includes how to use the LLO guides, introductory videos, information about how to access information without internet and the Leeds Local Offer information booklet will be added to this section once signed off. Information about continence services provided by health has been updated. The EHCP information on the website has been reviewed and updated by the SENSAP team. The assessment information and timescales has been added alongside the timescales diagram. Links to the SEN policies for all colleges and universities have been added to the individual entries. The apprenticeships, supported internships and employment and carers information has been reviewed and re-written by Leeds City Council’s Employment and Skills Team. We have updated information about the Local Authority (LA) expects from educational settings. Information has been added to ‘have your say’ to share how young people, parents and carers can have a voice and influence in SEND services.
March 2023	a ‘cost of living support’ button/page on the LLO would be valuable to families.	Information about cost of living was available on the LLO, however it might not have been obvious to families where to find this. A ‘cost of living – support for families’ section has been created within the information for parents and carers on the website. Colleagues have been asked to share information about services available to support families so these can be added to the website.
February 2023	The Leeds SEND Youth Forum attended an online session on the 13th February 2023 to review the young people’s section on the Leeds Local Offer website. Members of the SEND Youth Forum gave feedback and suggestions.	All feedback received was responded to.
January 2023	The Parent Champions reviewed the Early Years information on the website. They provided recommendations for improvements to the information.	The following amendments have been made to the website: Moved ‘Early Years’ under main parent / carer options. Changed images for ‘free early education places’ and ‘nurseries / children’s centre’ tiles so they are different. Free Early Education Entitlement information – added a link to the government website which includes clear information about eligibility Included a phone number for more information about Portage Clear information about Early Help (on forward plan) Unfortunately translating the language on the website isn’t technically possible with the website hosts. Web browsers have several built-in tools so that users can already help with accessibility, for example changing screen size.
January 2023	The Preparing for Adulthood offer for young people isn't clear on the local offer.	The Preparing for Adulthood information has been updated on the Leeds Local Offer website.
January 2023	Families are not being given the information about the support and services that are available to them. The amount of information available to families on websites can be overwhelming, and families don’t always know where to start to find services that can support them.	The officer responsible for the Leeds Local Offer website to action a focussed piece of work to look to develop a booklet that provides introductory information about short breaks, children’s transport, SEND support in schools, preparing for adulthood, SENDIASS, mental health support etc.

2022

Date	You said	Our response
October 2022	Create a document that explains how to use the website and how to find information.	A document has been created for young people, parents / carers and professionals. These have been added to the front page of the Leeds Local Offer website.
September 2022	The information about EHCP’s and Schools is complicated and hard to understand.	The education information on the website has been reviewed and the information updated and reorganised. Information about EHCP’s has been condensed on the Leeds Local Offer website, and the SENSAP are continuing to review the information.
August 2022	“The Leeds Local Offer is pretty good, and there is lots of useful information for families”.	-
August 2022	The SEND system is incredibly complicated for families, and they don’t always want all the information at once.	We have developed a ‘new to SEND’ section on the Leeds Local Offer website, this appears on the front page. This also includes information around identifying if a child has SEND.
July 2022	There is a short breaks and fun activities catalogue for 0 to 18 year-olds, but not a lot of information about fun activities for over 18-year-olds.	A request to services and families to find out about activities for over 18 year was made in September 2022. Activities for over 18 year olds can be found under ‘making friends and being involved in the community’
May 2022	There is a lack of information about debt advice and support with bills.	Information about Leeds based money advice services have been added to the cost of living support section
March 2022	On contact page include ‘if you require any printed information contact us llo@leeds.gov.uk’.	This has now been added to the contact page on the Leeds Local Offer.
March 2022	Have the facebook group feed on the Local Offer website? On contact page on the Leeds Local Offer have a live link to the LLO facebook group	Having the facebook group feed on the website isn’t technically possible with the website hosts. A link to the facebook group is now on the front page.
March 2022	change language / size etc. i.e. what is cost of inbuilt accessibility / translate tool	Unfortunately, this isn’t technically possible with the website hosts. Web browsers have several built-in tools so that users can already help with accessibility, for example changing screen size
February 2022	Cannot find alternative provision i.e. Trust	Information about AIP’s has been added to the education section on the Leeds Local Offer website.
January 2022	There is no information about localised cluster support on the Leeds Local Offer, families don’t understand what services are available to them and how to access them	We have worked with the Clusters and developed a ‘localised cluster support’ section.
January 2022	Review the personal budgets and direct payments section and ensure all information is related to young people	The personal budgets and direct payment has been updated.

2021

Date	You Said	Our Response
December 2021	Full peer review of the Leeds Local Offer was undertaken, from the feedback amendments and developments will be made to the Leeds Local Offer website	Organise school by area of the city Simplified explanation of section 41 Ful redesign of health section In 2022 will review EHCP information In 2022 review personal budgets information Clearer you said we did section
November 2021	The CYP section of the LLO is still too complicated and has too much information	Students from the Powerhouse, Post 16 West SILC, raised the issue. From Jan 2022 students will be meeting weekly to take ownership of the CYP and review this and make amendments to the website
October 2021	No information about Cricket for the visually impaired	Researched cricket clubs available in Leeds and added them to the LLO under things to do
August 2021	There are too many abbreviations used when talking about disabilities and the services available	A jargon buster has been developed, and a new 'jargon buster' section on the LLO has been created
August 2021	Post 16 information on the LLO isn't clear and is quite poor	Full review of the post 16 information has been undertaken and all information has been updated. The sections under post 16 have been developed from the feedback from parents.
August 2021	No section about toileting	A continence section has been added to the Health section on the website.
August 2021	It is not clear which schools in Leeds have resourced partnerships and specialist partnerships	Under the specialist schools section, we now have separated the schools information out into the following sections Specialist schools Specialist partnership schools Resourced partnerships Specialist out of area schools
July 2021	Holiday provision is not clear on the LLO	Developed a 'school holiday activities' section under 'Things to do'. This section will be updated for every school holiday.
June 2021	Cannot find information about supporting a child with foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD)	A section under parent information and support has been developed called ‘support by disability’, this section includes information about FASD
June 2021	Cannot find information about assistance dogs on the Leeds Local Offer website	We have now added information about assistance dogs under the autism / aspergers, ADHD & visual impairment sections on the Leeds Local Offer
May 2021	The ‘Dance, Music and Theatre’ section to be edited to include visual art and/or Arts as there isn’t an obvious place to look for information about visual art projects.	We have now changed this section to include visual arts, the new title is ‘Dance, Music, Theatre & Arts’
April 2021	Information about the disability register needs to be shared with families.	The disability register is now promoted on the reverse of the Leeds Local Offer postcard. The disability register is also on the front page of the Leeds Local Offer website.
April 2021	Need to have clear contact information for services on the Leeds Local Offer website	Every service on the website has been asked to provide a summary of information about their service and clear contact details, 75% of services have now provided this information. We are continuing to update the summary information so that it is available for 100% of services on the website
April 2021	There needs to be a clear section about fun things to do on the website	The short breaks and fun activities section on the website has been redesigned so it is more about ‘things to do’ In the young people’s section of the website we have added a section called ‘things to do’ which includes social groups, fun activities and sports that are available
April 2021	Need to have clear contact information for services on the Leeds Local Offer website	Every service on the website has been asked to provide a summary of information about their service and clear contact details. All summaries have been updated