Developing strategic co-production through the Wiltshire Parent Carer Council (WPCC)

The Wiltshire Parent Carer Council (WPCC) was formed in 2008, in recognition of both the opportunity and need to strengthen partnership working between parents / carers of young people with SEND and the leaders of local SEND services in Wiltshire. Fifteen years later, WPCC is one of the most well-established parent carer fora in England, with a membership that has grown to over 5,000. The strength of partnership-working and genuine co-production is seen in the feedback from WPCC members, WPCC and Wiltshire Council leaders, external validation from inspections and peer reviews, and from the positive impact of the services WPCC is funded to deliver, such as the SEND Information Service or parenting support programmes. Key to the success of strategic co-production in Wiltshire has been the investment in WPCC as a formal, strategic partner, embedding co-production in the culture, routines and ways of working on the local SEND system, and commissioning WPCC to deliver specific projects that ensures WPCC plays a key role in helping parents and carers navigate the local SEND system.

The SEND Effective Practice Evidence Framework considers that the “strength of evidence” of this case study is promising – WPCC’s work has been sustained for 15 years, and has been evaluated and validated through internal evaluation routines and external peer reviews. The “breadth of impact” of this case study is promising – there is evidence of impact on the lived experiences of families, and from the feedback from professionals.