Confusion over changes to Norfolk short breaks support

Norfolk County Council is considering altering the way short breaks are provided to SEND families.

These breaks include out-of-school activities for SEND children to allow parents to have much-needed respite.

The council is currently reviewing this service having seen a 75pc increase in demand and asking families to give their views.

But families have said some of the language used in the survey has proved confusing, creating fear that changes may see them missing out.

The proposed changes would see new short breaks plans for children, which will contain a range of activities to meet their needs.

This would replace the current system, which sees children allocated a sum of money and activities then matched to fit that sum.

Maxine Webb, Labour's spokeswoman for SEND in Norfolk, said: "Families are finding the survey unclear and confusion and therefore hard to respond to.

"It is causing anxiety among families that their children may end up with fewer opportunities than they have now."

A spokeswoman for Norfolk County Council said: "We would like to thank the more than 150 parents and carers who have already participated in our consultation and encourage anyone who hasn't yet got involved to do so.

"We have worked hard to make the language we've used as easy to understand as possible and have provided an easy read version of the consultation to ensure everyone has access to it in an accessible, easy to understand format.

"We also plan to hold some face-to-face engagement events to provide more clarity and give parents and carers the opportunity to talk to our team."

Penny Carpenter, cabinet member for children's services (Image: Norfolk Conservatives)

Penny Carpenter, cabinet member for children's services, said: "This proposal is part of a wider strategy to improve and modernise our service to ensure it is sustainable for all those children and families who need it, better using the budget we have to support more children and young people."