Families and young people invited to have their say on early support available

19 April 2024

With just over a week left to go, parents, carers and young people are being encouraged to have their say in a consultation to help shape and refresh the early help support offer in West Northants.

The consultation asks families and young people on the use and experiences of early support services in West Northants, which includes local 0-19 (and/or up to 25 for young people with SEND) services for children and young people, as well as how they would like to access different forms of support in a way that best suits them and their needs such as; online, in-person and group settings to name a few.

The consultation is open until midnight on 28 April via the link here and provides an opportunity for families, parents, carers and young people to share their thoughts and feedback anonymously. All responses will feed into the Council’s approach to early help support as well as how we commission our services for children and young people aged between 0-19 (25) together with other local organisations.

Early help is a huge focus and priority for West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and together with other local organisations are keen to review and strengthen this offer further to ensure there is the right support available in a way that is accessible and meets the needs of children, young people and families locally.

“When we talk about early help, we are referring to the support available to our children, young people and families that they can access themselves without a referral from a health or support professional. This support needs to be easily accessible and to offer information and guidance on a range of topics – this may be advice on newborn support and development, vaccinations for children, mental wellbeing advice for teenagers, and the list goes on. By ensuring people have access to the right early help can make a difference to their wellbeing, development, and ultimately their life experiences, so it is really important we get it right.

“We can only do this by having the input and hearing feedback from our young people and families so I do encourage you to please take the time to complete the survey – whether it is all of it, or you complete the sections more relevant to you. All the feedback is incredibly valuable and shape our future direction.”Cllr Fiona Baker, Cabinet Member for Children, Families, Education and Skills

The consultation focuses on two essential topics of the early help offer, which includes:

• Establishing local Family Hubs in West Northants with the aim of ensuring all families with children aged between the years of 0-19 (25) can access help, advice and support they need for a wide range of services much more easily. This includes exploring different ways to make services accessible – for example building an informative digital offer and creating in-person ‘hubs’ where various services are available for families in one place.

• Planning of the Council’s service specification for our 0-19 services – understanding what families and young people would like from these services will help to create a localised specification that meets the needs of our population. 

  
  The consultation closes on Sunday 28 April, at midnight. All responses from the survey will be anonymous.