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SECTION 4: LOCAL AUTHORITY STAFF VIEWS OF ENQUIRE'S SERVICES AND SUGGESTIONS FOR THE FUTURE

Introduction

In this section, we summarise local authority staff views of Enquire's services and their suggestions for the development of advice and information services in the future. In doing this, we draw on data from the questionnaire survey to local authority staff and the individual interviews with educational psychologists.

Telephone helpline

Findings from the local authority staff survey confirmed that, in line with evidence from Enquire's database, the telephone helpline was used less frequently by local authority staff than by parents/carers (see Table 4.1 below). Of those who responded to the question about the quality of the helpline, all said it was very good or fairly good. Almost two thirds of those who completed the questionnaire ticked the 'no opinion' box or did not respond, suggesting that local authority staff are not getting much feedback from parents on the quality of the helpline. This might indicate either a low level of use in respondents' local authorities, or a lack of dialogue with parents about sources of information and assistance.

Table 4.1: Frequency of service use (local authority staff)

Table 4.2 : Quality of Enquire's services (local authority staff)

Of those who responded to the question about experiences of the Enquire telephone helpline, all said staff were friendly, knowledgeable, helpful and provided a response relevant to the question. About a third of local authority respondents said they had e-mailed Enquire, and were satisfied with the speed of response, indicating that this was another route which practitioners found useful.

Comments written on the questionnaire indicated local authority concerns about being cut out of the information loop and worries about problems escalating through the intervention of a third party.

Would be helpful when enquiry is made to Enquire, if you asked parents to contact the named person in the Council in the first instance.

Any centrally based service can give only general advice to enquiries from different authorities. This based on the Act and the Code of Practice. Any enquiries regarding 'local' services and provision should be referred back to the local authority.

We had a case this year where a parent with a low level concern approached Enquire, having not raised it at school locally, and was advised to make a Freedom of Information request and copy to MSPs. This may have been a rogue event but it was inappropriate advice.

Any advice to parents should re-emphasise that for this to work we will all have to have strong partnerships. Given the number of formal complaints routes now it is vital to resolve matter as close to source as possible.

A principal educational psychologist also said that it was felt in his local authority that Enquire sometimes 'fanned the flames of discontent' rather than encouraging understanding of the local authority's position. Rather than 'propelling parents into a confrontational stance', Enquire should focus much more on dispute resolution, which was the local authority's preferred approach:

Parents can get locked into a dispute which is in no-one's interests and this uses up a lot of time and energy at the local authority end.

An educational psychologist emphasised that, in order for local authorities to continue to make referrals, it was essential to ensure impartiality.

On a more positive note, it was felt that, at a time when more responsibility was being devolved to schools, it was important that parents were told about minimum national standards and good practice. An educational psychologist commented:

We as a service have phoned the helpline. We also know of parents who have phoned for advice and we feel from our perspective the advice given was good, balanced and accurate.

However, the other four educational psychologists who were interviewed said that they had not used the helpline themselves and neither had any of their colleagues as far as they were aware. They did not even know of any parents who had sought information and advice through the telephone helpline.

Finally, there was a query about the accessibility of the service to children and young people:

Are you sure your service is known to children and young people? If you are contacted by mobile phone, can the reply to the enquiry be accessed by text message?

Enquire's public profile

Local authority staff were asked about their familiarity with the work of Enquire, and all who responded, apart from one individual, were very familiar or quite familiar. Almost all (apart from two) had used some aspect of Enquire's services. However, it should be remembered that only a third of questionnaires sent out were returned. Those who did not return the questionnaire may simply have been too busy, or may have felt that they lacked sufficient knowledge to make a useful contribution.

The website is an important aspect of Enquire's interface with the education community so local authority staff were asked about their experience of it (see table below).

Table 4.3: Quality of Enquire's website (local authority staff).

About half of respondents rated the website as clear, informative, practical, relevant and up to date. Suggestions for enhancing the service profile included TV advertising, placing publicity material in supermarkets and community resources and using a touring bus or caravan to visit local authorities.

The educational psychologists who were interviewed said that in their authority the Enquire parents' guide was routinely distributed to parents of children with additional support needs, although as far as they were aware this was not the case across Scotland. However, they knew very little about the other services provided by Enquire. They felt that Enquire needed to build stronger bridges with local authorities, establishing personal contact with educational psychologists and ensuring that they had information about outreach events, training events and the telephone helpline. One principal educational psychologist stated that, until asked to respond to the interview schedule, he had not realised how little he knew about Enquire's services.

Training events

In contrast to those who responded to the service user questionnaire, a high proportion of local authority respondents had participated in events and training. Sixty five per cent had attended events and nearly 70% had attended training events frequently or sometimes. Of those who attended such events, virtually all said they were very good or fairly good. Positive comments included the following:

The help and advice Enquire have offered in relation to multi-agency training and parents' events have been extremely helpful.

Enquire has provided a very helpful facilitating role for Aberdeenshire Council to assist us in developing ASL awareness raising for local authority staff. It would be useful to have further information on how Enquire sees its role developing in the area of mediation, and working with local authorities in the implementation of the ASL Act.

A number of slightly more critical comments were made about the relevance of training events for practitioners, and it was felt by some that some events should be aimed at specialist audiences, recognising prior knowledge:

I have attended a number of events - they varied in relevance and quality.

A bit low level - the presenter had not got the information under her belt.

Costs for training local authorities seem rather high.

Events are often not aimed at practitioners. Our council has been involved with Enquire on a number of pilots and these have been mutually beneficial.

Publications

Ninety six per cent of local authority staff who responded to the questionnaire had read some of Enquire's publications and around 90% described them as clear, informative, practical, relevant and up to date. Some local authority staff were hoping to collaborate closely with Enquire in building up their advice and information services to fulfil their new duties under the Additional Support for Learning Act. Comments included the following:

The current publications are very valuable for parents, carers and professionals alike.

Information on the ASL Act will be required for teachers, parents and young people. Would Enquire support local authorities in the developments of their own information?

[We need help with producing] leaflets/newsletters for pupils/students especially to help them deal with transition stages.

I would like help and advice in how to involve children and young people in changes for ASL Act.

Summary

Telephone helpline

Local authority staff, whilst generally positive about the telephone helpline, were more likely than parents to sound cautionary notes. Some local authority staff felt that enquiries about local matters should be referred back to them, since Enquire was a national service and was unlikely, therefore, to have enough insight into local authority policy and practice. It was also suggested by local authority staff that Enquire might encourage parents to adopt an adversarial stance.

Training events

Quite a high proportion of local authority staff had attended a wide range of conferences and training events organised by Enquire. Whilst the overall rating of the events was good, there were some critical comments about their level and quality. This suggests that there may be a need for more events which are targeted specifically at local authority staff and other practitioners.

Public profile

Local authority staff who responded to the questionnaire indicated that they were aware of Enquire's existence, but individual interviews with educational psychologists suggested a lack of in-depth knowledge of Enquire's various activities. Local authority staff felt that Enquire could do more to develop better knowledge and understanding of the inner working of local authorities, leading to more productive working relationships which they would welcome.

Publications

Publications were seen as a very important part of Enquire's work, and were used extensively by professionals as well as parents. Some local authority staff distributed them routinely to all parents whose children's needs were being assessed, and were keen to explore joint publications with Enquire in the future.

Implications for future services

The need for closer liaison between local authorities and Enquire

As noted earlier, local authorities in Scotland have been quite slow to find an effective way of empowering parents through access to advice and information services. For example, there has been no equivalent of England's Parent Partnership Scheme, and the establishment of Enquire was intended to promote improvements in this area. When Enquire was first established, there was some suspicion from local authorities that the service would encourage mistrust, suspicion and an adversarial approach. Echoes of these views are still apparent in the perceptions of some local authority staff, but it is also evident that much ground has been travelled and there are now many aspects of Enquire's service which are highly valued by local authorities, such as their publications, websites and, in general, their training events. There is still potential for better liaison between local authorities, who could do much to publicise Enquire's services through their web-sites and policy statements. The Additional Support for Learning Act makes it mandatory for local authorities to provide advice and information services, and within this context it is likely that many will find they are able to collaborate effectively with Enquire in the future.

Targeting of particular events and publications at practitioners

Whilst local authority staff are now making significant use of Enquire's services, it is evident that they sometimes feel that these do not immediately address their needs and interests. There is therefore considerable scope for developing more practitioner-focused training events and publications. The possibility of developing multi-professional publications and training packs, perhaps organised thematically and dealing with issues such as early years or transitions, would also be an option.

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