Essex Short Breaks Survey

Overview

Section 25 of the Children and Young Persons Act requires local authorities to provide short breaks for families with disabled children. Short Breaks give parent carers and siblings a break from their additional caring responsibilities while enabling children and young people to meet friends, take part in activities, develop independence and have fun.  

The Essex Short Breaks Commissioning Strategy 2021-2026 set out several actions to improve the Short Breaks offer for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) living in Essex. Essex County Council are now reviewing the work that has been undertaken as part of the strategy. 

Why your views matter

We want to hear about your experience of Essex Short Breaks.

This questionnaire is aimed at the families of children and young people with SEND living in Essex, and there is an opportunity for children and young people to give their views at the start of the survey. We also welcome responses from professionals responding on behalf of families.

Confidentiality

By completing this survey, you are giving us permission to use this information to inform our plans. Any information you share with us as part of this project will not be identifiable to individuals or organisations in our final report.  The individual responses will be kept for two years. 

Your participation is voluntary. Responses and participation will not affect any services you may currently be receiving. If you wish to withdraw your data once you have completed the survey, please contact shortbreaks@essex.gov.uk  by 05/11/2025. After this date, your data will have been combined with that of others and anonymised. 

Different format and further information

If you need help completing this survey, please email shortbreaks@essex.gov.uk

GDPR and Data Protection Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018, we have a legal duty to protect any information we collect from you.  The information will only be used for the purposes described above and will not be kept longer than is necessary to do so, up to a maximum of two years. We will not share your personal details with any other agency unless we have concerns that you or another individual may be at risk of harm or if it is required by law. We do not collect personal information for commercial purposes. 

You can visit Essex County Council Children’s & Families Social Care Privacy Notice via the link: https://www.essex.gov.uk/privacy-childrens

What happens next

Thank you for your help, your participation is greatly appreciated.

We will review what you and others have told us, and the findings will be used to help improve services.