What we do - Have your say! - Other local and national surveys and consultations

Off-Street Parking Consultation

Wiltshire Council has opened a consultation about proposed changes to the tariffs in off-street car parks. Should you wish to contribute, you can have your say [HERE].

The deadline is the 23rd May 2022.

Liberty Protection Safeguards Public Consultation Launched

The Government has launched a public consultation on proposed changes to the Mental Capacity Act (MCA) Code of Practice for England and Wales, which includes guidance on the new Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) system. The LPS system will ultimately replace the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) system and aims to improve outcomes for people who are or who need to be deprived of their liberty. They have been designed to put the rights and wishes of those people at the centre of all decision-making.

This is a joint consultation published by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and Ministry of Justice. The consultation will run for 16 weeks from the 17th March until 7th July 2022. Read all the [consultation documents] (including easy read versions).

The DHSC will provide an update on the implementation timetable post-consultation, once they’ve had a chance to look at the feedback and views.

National SEND Review

The National SEND Review Green Paper has just been published.

The government is committed to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND and those in alternative provision.

To achieve this ambition, they want to work with and hear from: -

• children and young people
• parents and carers
• those who advocate and work with the SEND sector
• local and national system leaders

You can read a seven page summary of the SEND Review [HERE], or click [REVIEW], to read the full 106 page document. For details of translated copies of the document, including BSL, Braille and Easy Read, click [TRANSLATIONS].

Click [VIDEO], to watch a two and a half minute video about the SEND Review.

Young People Aged 14 to 25 Needed to Help Influence Police and Crime Priorities in Wiltshire and Swindon

Wiltshire and Swindon Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) is recruiting young people to join the Wiltshire & Swindon Youth Commission on Police and Crime 2022; an exciting initiative in partnership with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner.

The Youth Commission enables young people to support, challenge and influence decisions about policing and crime in Wiltshire & Swindon. The Youth Commission allows young people to get involved and have their say about policing and crime where they live.

The Youth Commission will explore urgent issues affecting young people in Wiltshire & Swindon, such as reducing offending and re-offending, improving the relationship with the police, and anti-social behaviour.

The Youth Commission is aimed at young people aged 14-25 years who want to make a difference to their community.

They are looking for a diverse group of young people from different backgrounds and life experiences to take part, including those who have direct experience of the criminal justice system.

This is a brilliant opportunity for young people to gain new knowledge, skills and experiences. Members of the Youth Commission will play an important role in helping to run consultation events and gather the opinions of other young people about policing, crime and reducing offending and re-offending.

All documents needed to apply for this opportunity can be found below:

Application Notes
Application Form
Consent Form

The application pack can also be accessed via this link: https://www.wiltshire-pcc.gov.uk/the-pcc-and-you/have-your-say/youth-commission/

Application deadline is: 27th May 2022

Seashell Start Survey

[Seashell] would love to hear your views to support them in developing a service to provide functional assessment and family centred early interventions for under 5s with additional needs. If you are able to spend a few minutes completing their survey, it would be hugely beneficial in ensuring they establish a service which provides what families need. If you would be able to offer additional time to speak with them via a phone conversation or participation in a focus group they would love to hear from you.

[Seashell Start Survey]

[Seashell Start Concept for Engagement – YouTube]

Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living - Inclusive Bus Project

[Wiltshire CIL] are on a mission to make bus travel more inclusive in Wiltshire!

Supported by ImberBus and [Salisbury Reds], this co-produced project will bring disabled people and bus companies around Wiltshire together, to consider what we can all do to create a more inclusive bus service.

Wiltshire CIL need your help.
They have created an online survey for you to share your ideas and experiences of bus travel. Your answers and experiences will be vital in shaping this project and imagining the future of inclusive bus travel in Wiltshire.

It only takes a few minutes, so why not get involved? Be part of this new disability campaign and help make a difference in Wiltshire!

If you would like to complete the survey, please click [HERE]

Have you, your Family or Carer, Ever Told Staff at the Royal United Hospitals, Bath NHS Foundation Trust (RUH) about your Experience of the Hospital?

What would help you, your family or carer, to provide feedback or to be involved in improving services provided by the RUH?

The RUH Patient Experience Team invite you to share your views. They want to hear from patients, their families and carers, and the local community to understand how they can work together to improve the experiences of patients, and their families and carers.

To complete a questionnaire or to express your interest in joining an online group meeting [click here].

The questionnaire and expression of interest form close on Friday 6th May 2022.

The Mental Capacity Act is Changing – Have Your Say

The government is consulting on the proposed changes to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 (MCA) Code of Practice, which includes guidance on the new Liberty Protection Safeguards (LPS) system. This consultation is also seeking views on the LPS regulations, which will underpin the new system. The LPS will apply to people over the age of 16, and the Department for Education (DfE) has been involved in the development of this new system.

Click [HERE] to see the documents accompanying the consultation and a link to respond to the consultation.

Have Your Say on Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) in Wiltshire

Wiltshire Council wants to hear from as many parents and carers of children and young people with an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) as possible, to find out their views on the support available and to inform future developments

Wiltshire Council has been working with an organisation called ‘In Control’ to put together a questionnaire to find out about how the support made available through the EHCP helps children and young people in Wiltshire. The questionnaires are called ‘POET’ which stands for Personal Outcomes Evaluation Tool.

There are three questionnaires available: -

• [Parent/carer questionnaire]
• [Young person questionnaire]
• [Practitioner questionnaire]

The Council will use the results of this survey to monitor how they are doing and how they can make improvements. The information given through these surveys will also be used in a national report to help improve the way things are done for others in England.

All responses will be anonymous and we encourage as many parent carers, and young people if they are able, who have experience of EHCPs to complete the survey. If you have more than one child or young person with an EHCP, you will need to complete a separate survey for each child or young person.

The survey is short and most of the questions are multiple choice, with an option for additional responses at the end of the survey. Survey responses need to be submitted by end of April 2022. Please also see the attachment (POET letter parents and carers – March 2022) for more information.

Eating Disorder Research

Are you a Parent Carer or Relative of someone with Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)?

A postgraduate student from Kent University is looking for parent carers or relatives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities that have also been diagnosed with ARFID to take part in a research project. Your involvement in this research would require you to take part in an online conversation that is likely to last between 1 and 1½ hours.

For more information please click here.

Have Your Say about Primary Care Services

Carer Support Wiltshire is pleased to have been awarded funding by NHS England & Improvement via NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW) CCG, to carry out research into the effect of the pandemic on people who care for someone.

The research will look specifically at the changes in how primary care services were delivered during the pandemic and how this affected unpaid carers, both positively or negatively. Carer Support Wiltshire would also like to hear any direct feedback from people who care for someone who would like to share their experiences of GP surgeries during the pandemic.

If you look after someone, Carer Support Wiltshire would love your input into the research. The closing date for the survey is 4th March 2022.

Click [HERE] to read more and click [SURVEY] to give your feedback.

Survey about the Proposed Social Care Reforms and our Human Rights - closing date 7th March 2022

NDTi is working with the British Institute of Human Rights to explore how the proposed social care reforms affect the human rights of people living in England and Wales.

NDTi wants to hear the views of carers, people who draw on social care as well as people who work or volunteer in organisations that support, to understand what people think about the social care reform proposals in England and Wales. Will they enhance the human rights of people who draw on social care? Will they protect the human rights of people who work in social care?

If you have 10 minutes to share your thoughts please go to [NDTi’s short survey] before Monday 7th March.

Help Shape New People and Communities Strategy

[Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group] (BSW CCG) would like to hear from anyone interested in joining their new Citizens' Sounding Board.

The group is being set up to:
• Better understand the people and communities BSW CCG serves, with a particular focus on health inequalities and seldom heard communities.
• Work with people to co-design services and seek solutions together.
• Listen and learn, hearing from a diverse range of perspectives.

To find out more, please book a place on one of the CCG's online workshops by emailing bswccg.engagement@nhs.net

The workshops will take place on:
• Wednesday 2nd March, 1.00 pm - 2.30pm
• Wednesday 16th March 1.00 pm - 2.30pm

Have Your Say on Devizes Health Centre

Will you be using services at the new Devizes Health Centre? Share your views with Healthwatch Wiltshire on how you'd like to access these services.

You can complete the survey in the following ways:
• Online: please click [HERE] for the online form.
• By telephone: 01225 434218
• Printed copies of the survey that will be available around the town (keep a look out for the posters).

The survey closes on Sunday 20 March 2022.

Have Your Say About How Things Work for Children and Young People with SEND

Parent carers are invited to join two online workshops to talk about how things work for children and young people with SEND and their families in Wiltshire.

Wiltshire is developing a “System of Excellence” for children and young people with SEND and the workshops will bring together parent carers, early years settings, schools and colleges and other professionals to design what this should look like. The two workshops will look at: -

• Tuesday 15th February - Inclusion for children and young people with SEND in mainstream early years settings, schools, and colleges

• Tuesday 1st March - What makes a great transition for children and young people with SEND

Both sessions will run from 10am to 12.30pm. You can register your interest in attending by emailing: SpecialSchools@wiltshire.gov.uk.

Places will be limited to enable focused work, but there will be other ways for parent carers to give feedback and contribute in the future. If there are more people than places, people can be added to a list to be kept informed if they would like to be.

Please see Invitation Systems of Excellence Workshops for more information.

Have Your Say on SEND Travel Services

Wiltshire Council is asking children and families to complete a survey on the SEND Travel services that you may currently receive, and give you an opportunity to have your say on the future of the service.

The link to the survey can be found [HERE] and the Council looks forward to hearing from you.

The survey closes on Sunday 6th February 2022.

Thank you

Wilts CIL Knowledge Cafes for 2022

Knowledge Cafes are run by Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living and are for people with learning disabilities and/ or autism. The cafes will take place on the dates shown below in Devizes and Warminster.

In the first couple of meetings they are working together to create messages about ‘acceptance’ that will be used to highlight World Autism Acceptance Day in late March, and also as part of other future campaigns.

New people are most welcome. Any questions please email or phone/text:-

Zoё Millington - User Engagement Outreach Worker
Monday to Thursday

zoe@wiltshirecil.org.uk

07812 495967

0300 1233 442

Effective Support for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Families

The [Early Intervention Foundation] (EIF), the [Race Equality Foundation] (REF) and [Action for Children] have partnered up to create [SpeakOut]. SpeakOut is a safe space for Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups to share their experiences on seeking support for their family.

Research looking at lots of different issues, from health to education to justice, suggests there are large and worrying inequalities in the outcomes experienced by minority ethnic groups. It is also known that good family support can help to address many of these issues before they become more serious concerns in a young person’s life.

It is vital that family support services can support all families, from all ethnic backgrounds, to reduce these risks to young people’s lives. But as a country, we don’t know enough about what effective family support looks like, especially for minority ethnic families.

Every family should be able to get the support they need, when they need it, no matter their background. [SpeakOut] wants to hear from young people, parents and carers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic families about how easy it is to find the help they need, if the help is right for them, and how things could be made better.

SpeakOut is asking anyone who interested in sharing their experiences about how easy it is to find the help you need, if the help is right for you, and how things could be made better, to complete a [short survey]. You can share your story anonymously through the survey as video, audio or text responses, in any language of your choice.

You can find out more on the [SpeakOut website] or by contacting speakout@eif.org.uk. There is also a SpeakOut introductory video, which is available on [YouTube].

Wiltshire Local Offer Survey

Wiltshire’s Local Offer website is currently being reviewed to make sure it is meeting the needs of the children and families in Wiltshire. The views and feedback from a wide range of people is strongly encouraged.

A consultation survey has been put together, with support from a range of partners including the Wiltshire Parent Carer Council (WPCC), and we want to encourage as many people as possible to say what they think of the new look Local Offer website, and how it could be improved. Please complete [Local Offer Feedback Survey 2021 (Snap Survey)].

It is essential that we work together to make sure our Local Offer is accessible, helpful, informative, and fit for purpose; further changes will be made to the Local Offer website in response to feedback over the next 12 months. This is the first step of the review, and there will be further opportunities to comment, and be involved in shaping the final version of the Local Offer.

Please contact Dexter Chipeni at dexter.chipeni@wiltshire.gov.uk if you have any queries or comments.

Gympanzees Survey – Young People Aged 11-25 Invited to Participate

Gympanzees are a charity who offer play, exercise and social inclusion opportunities to children and young adults with any disability from 0-25. 

Currently, they offer this in two ways: their free Lending library and Pop-Up leisure facility.  Gympanzees have just launched their main campaign ‘Project Home’ and this will see them open a permanent leisure facility by the beginning of 2023.

They are aware that young people in the older age group have different needs to enable exercise, play, and support with independence. This can vary from the equipment that is needed to the designs and pictures used in the centre.

Having spoken to many different disability services, parents, and carers, Gympanzees are now keen to ask the opinions of young people themselves. Young people with any disability are invited to complete a simple survey to make sure the main centre is accessible to and led by those who will benefit the most.

To complete the survey please click [HERE]. If you would like to learn more about Gympanzees, please visit their [WEBSITE].

Research Participants Required for Research on Eye Movements and Reading

Bristol University School of Education lecturer Dr Philippa Howard is seeking autistic and non-autistic volunteers to have their eyes tracked as they read.

Volunteers will be asked to silently read text as their eye movements are monitored, and complete a range of other tasks, e.g. solving puzzles and completing questionnaires. Taking part will take around 2 hours and 15 minutes and will be completed in 3 separate sessions (1 in person, 2 online). Volunteers will be paid £30 for their time.

Who can participate?
Adults with and without a clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum condition*.
• Be aged 18 years +
• Be native English speakers
• Have no formal diagnosis of a learning difficulty (e.g., dyslexia)
Further information can be found [HERE].

• A clinical diagnosis means that this was formally assessed and assigned by a clinical professional/s e.g., a psychologist or paediatrician
  

If you are interested or have any further questions, please email Philippa Howard: philippa.howard@bristol.ac.uk

Do You Want to be Part of Helping to Create a Child-Friendly Trowbridge?

The Trowbridge Child Wellbeing Partnership is a strategic group bringing together key people from the public and voluntary sector working with children, parents and young people in the town. They are working to create a Child-Friendly Trowbridge and would value input from parents and carers. If you are interested, please contact Colin Kay at: colvic63@gmail.com.

Diversity of Patient and Public Group: PARTICIPATE

The University of Bath are looking for diversity in their patient and public group, [PARTICIPATE].

BSW (B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire) research hub supports all aspects of applied health research within the University of Bath and local primary and community care. They have created a Participate Network, for members of the public with an interest in health research and a willingness to share their experiences and views. Members of the Network are involved in a number of ways, such as: -

• Being part of a research panel, which involves giving views on research ideas and plans
• Being a research partner, which involves helping researchers wit planning and designing research and disseminating results.

They support portfolio studies that are recruiting in the local area, however these are not restricted to primary care studies as they also support secondary care, mental health, social care and local authority studies.

They wish to expand their reach within the community to increase the diversity of members and encourage new people to join their PARTICIPATE network and would like to engage with local groups and interested societies within B&NES, Swindon and Wiltshire. To find our more, click [PARTICIPATE].

Ask, Listen, Act – Working Together to Inform the Provision of SEND Support for Children after the COVID-19 Pandemic

A new study, funded by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR), has been launched to learn more about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns on children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

Over the next six months, the project team will work with children and young people with SEND, their parents/carers and professionals to co-develop key priorities for the future to reduce the long-term effects of COVID-19 and lockdowns on these children.

Read more details about the study: [ASK,LISTEN,ACT STUDY]
Access the survey to share your views: [HERE]

Do You Know a Young Person who Would Like to Have a Voice in Decisions that Affect Their Lives?

The National Children's Bureau (NCB) is recruiting Young Research Advisors (YRAs).

The group works together to help the NCB Research Team as well as other Research Centres from around the country to come up with ideas for surveys, test out interview questions, understand research findings, organise events, present at conferences and spread the word about the research findings through films and animations.

NCB regards the YRAs as their research partners. They listen and respond to their views and ideas about research topics, methods and messages but they never ask them to share personal information or experiences relating to the subjects they discuss. Above all, they get to meet loads of other children and young people and have lots of fun!

Research advisors can come from anywhere in England and don’t need to have done this sort of thing before, it’s easy to learn and everyone is welcome to take part!

NCB will cover the cost of all travel and expenses so it won’t cost a penny!

To discuss in more detail or request an application pack, please [visit the website here].

Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living - Disability Hate Crime Survey

Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living have designed a survey to raise awareness of Disability Hate Crime in Wiltshire.

They would really appreciate people’s feedback and you can take part in the survey by clicking [here]

If you have any further questions or would like support to complete the survey, please contact Wilts CIL on 0300 1233 442

What is a Local Area Board?

Read more about area boards and how they are the structured, their key roles in relation to decision making and funding for local projects and how to contact your local area board members: [Area Boards]