Core Offer and national indicator

Alongside the substantial funding for the Aiming High for Disabled Children (AHDC) programme, the Government has introduced measures to make the system work better for disabled children, young people and their families. Key to the system transformation is the Core Offer and the disabled children's national indicator.

Core Offer

The Core Offer sets out in one place a national statement of expectations for how disabled children and their families will be informed and involved as their needs are assessed and the necessary services are delivered. The Core Offer covers:

information
transparency
assessment
participation
feedback.

The standards in the Core Offer provide clarity on what entitlements and services disabled children, young people and their families can expect in every area.

The Core Offer set of documents includes:

The Aiming High for Disabled Children Core Offer (standards)
Core Offer implementation materials (to help LAs and PCTs develop their local Core Offer)
Delivering the core offer standards (to help LAs and PCTs by setting out delivery milestones with examples of practice and materials developed by other agencies).

Disabled children's national indicator

The disabled children's services national indicator (NI 54) looks at parental experiences of services for disabled children and young people aged 0 to 19 and the extent to which these services are delivered according to core offer standards. The indicator is a core part of performance-management arrangements aimed at improving the quality of services for disabled children. This is a key priority of the Child Health and Well-being Public Service Agreement (PSA12). This indicator is included in the National Indicator Set (NIS) and the NHS Operating Framework Vital Signs indicator set.

The indicator is being measured for the second time during the summer of 2009. Values for the first indicator were published earlier this year by the DCSF, and are available from the Parental experience of services for disabled children website. The first report, published on 13 May 2009, sets out the overall findings from a national sample survey of parents of disabled children in England conducted during January - March 2009. The second report, published on 10 June 2009, sets out the national and local level data from this survey to give a breakdown by the 15 sub-indicators (i.e. each of the five core offer standards as they apply to each of the three broad service areas of health, social care and education).

Phase 2 of the national indicator survey

In July 2009 a screening survey for the disabled children’s services indicator will be sent out to 750,000 households of school aged children across England. This survey will be used to identify parents and carers of children with a wide range of disabilities to take part in the main stage indicator questionnaire.

The main stage questionnaire will ask parents about their experience of local disabled children’s services (health, education, and care and family support) being delivered to the core offer standards. A research company (BMRB) has been contracted to carry out the surveys on behalf of the DCSF and the resulting indicators will be published in December.

All local areas (PCTs and local authorities) will receive a data report which gives them their baseline for the national indicator and a breakdown by service and core offer standard. In summer 2010 the survey will be re-run with a sample made up of a panel of previous respondents.

Further information has been developed for parents of disabled children and professional working with this group comprising of an information leaflet, a timetable of next steps for the indicator and an example of the main stage questionnaire. A briefing on the indicator (updated 30 June 2009) further explains the background to the development of the indicator survey.

Email the AHDC implementation team with questions.

Parents forums

Parents forums will provide more opportunities for parents to shape the services their families receive in every area. Over the period 2008 to 2010 £3 million is available through a programme of grants and support from Together for Disabled Children, a coalition between Serco and Contact a Family, to help groups develop parent participation activities in each LA area across England. Grants will be allocated over two phases.

For more information visit the Together for Disabled Children website.