Parent carer representation across SEND boards and working groups with Luton Borough Council and BLMK ICB, ensuring the lived experiences of families directly informed discussions and decisions across education, health and social care. We raised issues highlighted by parent carers and worked with partners to understand areas that need improvement. EPIC Chai sessions, offering an informal and accessible space for parent carers to share experiences, raise concerns, and connect with others. These sessions provided valuable insight into recurring challenges and helped strengthen relationships between families and services. Ask the Experts, a collaborative event bringing multiple services together under one roof so families could benefit from quick access to advice, guidance and support. This reduced waiting times for help and removed barriers by allowing parents to speak to professionals directly in one place. Membership engagement, including one-to-one support, phone contact, WhatsApp group communication and termly updates to keep families informed. This ensured parent carers had ongoing opportunities to share feedback, ask questions and receive timely information. Feedback surveys, gathering evidence about what services are working well and where improvements are needed. The data was used to highlight gaps in provision, support strategic planning and strengthen co-production with local partners. Signposting and support, helping families understand what help is available, how to access services and where to go for specialist advice. We provided tailored information to help reduce confusion and improve access to support. Local Offer work, sharing detailed feedback from parent carers about gaps in information and usability issues. We worked with colleagues to improve clarity, accessibility and content so families can find the support they need more easily. Inclusion, participation and reasonable adjustment work, supporting professionals across services to understand parent carer needs, promote inclusive practice and adopt approaches that reduce barriers for families. Sensory-friendly pantomime 2024, delivered to increase participation and offer an inclusive activity for SEND families. We worked with the organisers to accommodate as many needs as possible, ensuring a welcoming and accessible experience for all attendees. Recruitment and onboarding of new staff, strengthening operational capacity and ensuring the forum could keep up with growing demand for support and engagement from families. Formation of a core strategic meeting with senior leads across education, health and social care to improve partnership work, address key issues earlier and develop a more joined-up approach across services. Strengthening local partnerships, working closely with community organisations, Family Hubs and wider services to support parent carer wellbeing and build a shared understanding of the pressures faced by families. Awareness-raising work, increasing visibility of the parent carer forum within the local community so more families know where to access support, information and opportunities to share their voice. External support from a Contact Associate, ensuring high-quality representation, co-production and compliance with national parent carer forum standards. These activities were carried out by a small team, with a significant proportion of work completed voluntarily by directors and parent carers who understand the pressures families in Luton face.

EPIC Luton Parent Carer Forum (EPIC) works with and for families of children and young people with SEND in Luton. Our stakeholders include parent carers, children and young people with SEND, local public services, voluntary organisations and national partners. Consultation takes place throughout the year and directly shapes our priorities and the issues we raise with strategic leads. Our work this year focused on helping services understand where improvements are needed while creating safe and accessible opportunities for families to engage. Although not always within our usual remit or funding, we made every effort to offer meaningful engagement opportunities so that parent carers could contribute without additional stress or barriers. Much of this activity was delivered by our small team on a voluntary basis, as many of our directors and staff are parent carers themselves. This ensures our work is shaped by lived experience and grounded in the realities of daily life. We also secured funding through the Luton Citizen Fund (£2,000), which will support the 2026 SEND Friendly Pantomime and allow us to continue offering inclusive, community-focused engagement for families. We are exploring further funding opportunities to expand our events programme and increase the number of accessible ways families can contribute to shaping SEND services. Children and Young People with SEND While EPIC engages mainly with parent carers, the experiences of children and young people remain at the centre of our work. Feedback from families highlighted issues related to inclusion, communication and access to support. This information was shared in strategic meetings to help services understand where changes are needed. Parents and Carers of Children with SEND Parent carers were consulted through: EPIC Chai sessions Ask the Experts Feedback surveys WhatsApp support groups One-to-one conversations Phone contact and email enquiries Engagement at community settings This feedback shaped our representation on SEND boards and guided our work on the Local Offer, reasonable adjustments, signposting, pathway concerns and service communication. Their insights directly influenced the priorities we raised with partners. Luton Borough Council We continued to take part in SEND boards, working groups and a newly formed core strategic meeting with senior leads. Parent carer feedback informed discussions on improving communication, identifying gaps in provision and strengthening joint working across departments. Health Services (BLMK ICB and NHS Providers) We provided regular feedback on families’ experiences of waiting times, neurodevelopmental pathways, therapy access and communication. This was shared through ICB working groups and meetings to support greater alignment between health and education services. Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations We strengthened partnerships with local charities, Family Hubs and voluntary organisations. Parent feedback helped shape joint sessions, improve signposting and develop more coordinated support for families. Funders (DfE, Luton Borough Council, BLMK ICB and Grant Providers) We shared updates with funders through required reporting and regular communication. Evidence from surveys and events supported discussions about future funding needs and areas where families continue to experience difficulties. National and Regional Networks (NNPCF, ERPCF and Contact) We remained active within national and regional parent carer forum networks. Through these platforms we contributed to wider SEND policy discussions, shared local insight and benefited from peer support. A Contact Associate provided additional support to strengthen our co-production and governance. Summary of consultation Consultation with stakeholders this year took place through events, meetings, surveys, joint sessions, one-to-one conversations and ongoing communication. The feedback we received guided our work, strengthened our representation at strategic meetings and helped ensure that services in Luton continue to hear directly from families and understand the improvements still needed.

Director – Elizabeth Ame Total Renumeration (Parent Rep Duties): £600.00 Director – Raja Asim Total Renumeration (Parent Rep Duties): £600.00 Director - Ruqsana Mahmood Khan Total Renumeration (Parent Rep Duties): £795.25 Director – Hina Ijaz Total Renumeration (Parent Rep Duties): £60.00

No transfer of assets other than for full consideration