1. Sarah Thomas
Contact a Family
209-211 City Road
LONDON
EC1V 1JN
13th July 2015
Dear Karen
The Contact a Family Health and SEND Project Steering Group meet last week to
make the selection of the pilot sites for the project. The Steering Group is made up of
representatives from the Contact a Family ‘Strengthening Parent Carer Participation
Team’ and NNPCF regional representatives and a representative from the Council for
Disabled Children is also invited to be part of this group.
There had been a high level of interest in being part of the project and I want to take
this opportunity to thank all Forums for their expressions of interest and the time
contributed in providing information to inform the selection process. During the
telephone conversations held with each Forum which submitted an expression of
interest, it was clear just how much work Forums were doing and the high level of
commitment and effort that has already been expended to ensure the successful
implementation of the SEND Reforms. The feedback collected has also provided a
useful picture of the current situation regarding the engagement of health partners in
the SEND Reforms across England and highlighted some key issues that will inform
both Contact a Family’s and the NNPCF’s future discussions with the Department For
Education.
We are pleased to let you know that your forum was successful in being selected as a
pilot area.
When selecting pilot sites we considered a number of factors as outlined below;
 Forums had a clear governance structure

2.  Forums had systems in place for share information with the wider parent carer
community and for gathering feedback
 Forums could work to deadlines and had capacity to deliver project
 Forums participated in regional networks and could share the learning from the
project
In addition to these factors we were also looking for a spread of forums offering a
variety of different experiences, including;
 Working with single or multiple CCG’s
 Working in rural or urban areas with either county council or unitary authorities
 Delivering via paid staff or volunteers
 A mix of forums that were parent led and forums supported by other organization
Finally we considered the spread of the pilot sites across England and how that would
support the sharing of the learning from the project with all Forums. We had received
expressions of interest from most, but not all regions, and were very conscious of the
need to ensure that all forums benefit from the project in the long term.
We had extensive discussions about which areas to select because all forums that
expressed an interest in the project had something to offer. The final selection of pilot
sites is listed below.
Region Selected Forum
Yorkshire and Humberside EPIC Leeds
North East Lincs Parent Carer Participation
Forum
West Midlands Birmingham Parent Carer Forum
North West Bolton Parent Carer Consortium
South East East Sussex Parent Carer Forum
West Sussex Parent Carer Forum
South West South Gloucestershire Parent Carers
East Midlands Leicester Family Voice and Leicester City
Parent Carer Forum
North East Parents in Power Gateshead

3. Sarah Thomas
3 
The next stage will be for me to arrange visits with the pilot sites to agree a work plan
for developing local engagement with health bodies. I will be in touch with all pilot sites
in the next few days to start this process.
If you have any questions about any of the above please do contact me and once again
many thanks for your interest and support for this project.
Yours sincerely
Sarah Thomas
Health Manager
Strengthening Parent Carer Participation Team
Contact a Family