Mythbusting & FAQs

Browse below for some commonly asked questions

Hopefully the answers on this page will help with some of our visitor's most commonly asked questions about what we do.

Who are DPCC?

Dorset Parent Carer Council, DPCC is an independent local parent carer forum that provides opportunities for parent carers of children and young people with any disability or additional need and aged 0-25 years to use their experiences to influence local decision making and improve services.

DPCC is run by a Steering Group who are all parent carers and who have a wide range of experience.

DPCC is registered with the Charity Commission with a board of Trustees. Trustees stand for election annually at our AGM.

Further details about DPCC are available in the About Us section of the this website. We also have parent carer representatives who help and increase our capacity to attend meetings and gather information.

How is DPCC funded?

Each year DPCC is able to submit a grant application for up to £15,000 for the Department for Education (DfE) Participation Grant. As part of the current funding arrangements with the DfE, the Local Authority has agreed to memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Forum, Dorset Parent Carer Council.

On occasions DPCC will receive other funding from individual grant applications or specific projects.

Are you an impartial organisation?

Yes. DPCC is managed purely by parent carers and is a stand-alone organisation. We have no political affiliations and do not provide any commissioned services. In our role as ‘critical friends’ we do work closely with decision makers in education, health, and social care, to ensure that parent carers experiences and views influence service design and delivery.

How can I help DPCC?

DPCC is reliant on your support. By becoming a member, you show your support for DPCC and help us to understand the needs of SEND families in Dorset. We also need to hear about your experiences of services, what worked or what didn’t work for your family. To influence decision making DPCC needs evidence about what needs to change and why, your voice is that evidence.

We also want to hear what you think of the work that DPCC does and where we can improve what we do.

What does a DPCC representative do?

The main role of DPCC is to ensure that parent carers have a voice in local decision making. To do this we need to have representatives at meetings where special educational needs or disability (SEND) service provision is being discussed. Parent Carer Representatives attend meetings on behalf of DPCC to gather information about service development and to provide the parent carer perspective in any discussions.

It is important that Parent Carer Representative share the general views and experiences of parent carers in Dorset and not just their own. This means that Parent Carer Representatives are invited to attend monthly DPCC Steering Group meetings so that they are familiar with the issues being raised by the Dorset Parent Carer community and to report back to the group on any meetings attended.

How do I share my experience?

There are lots of ways to share your experiences with DPCC including through our presence on private social media group where the discussion can only be seen by members of the group. You must be a parent carer to join these chat groups. You can also contact DPCC using the ‘give us your views’ tab on the website, by email or telephone if you want to speak to us about a particular experience. DPCC is keen to hear about good experiences as well as those where you have had concerns.

How does my feedback make a difference?

The feedback from Dorset parent carers is crucial to our work. The issues that parent carers identify in their everyday lives inform our activity and priorities. It provides information about what works or what doesn’t work from a families’ perspective and means that we can identify where the way services are delivered could be improved.

The Children and Families Act 2014 requires that local services are designed in partnership with families and so local decision makers must evidence that they are doing this.

How do I become a member?

Go to the Information page on our website and click on the membership form link and it will take you to the online form. We ask for some basic information to ensure that we can stay in touch with you.

As a DPCC member you will receive new and regular email updates about our work and other news you may be interested in.

My child does not have a disability or additional need, can I still become a member?

Only parent carers of children or young people who have a disability or additional need can become full members of DPCC. If you are not a parent carer or you live outside the Dorset Council area, we can add you to a separate mailing list and will share information that we produce where it is relevant.

Can DPCC help me with my individual situation?

DPCC is not a support group however are happy to listen, share information and offer general advice.

DPCC is able to signpost families to other services that are specifically funded to provide advice and guidance for parent carers and to reliable resources and information that parent carers might find useful in their individual circumstances.

What is the NNPCF?

The National Network of Parent Carer Forums represents local parent carer forums at a national level. All local parent carer forums, which are funded via a participation grant from the Department For Education, are members of the NNPCF.

The NNPCF national steering group is made up of parent carer representatives from each of the English regions. The regional representatives meet regularly with local forums at regional meetings, providing a pathway for local issues to be considered on a national level. The NNPCF works closely with the DFE, the Department of Health and other Government departments to raise the profile of the issues impacting on parent carers and children and young people with SEND.

What is the Commissioner?

DPCC works with Commissioners in both Dorset Council and NHS Dorset. Commissioners lead on the development and procurement of services, based on local need. They oversee the tender process for services and play a key role in contract monitoring.

DPCC and campaigning?

We are not a campaign group, but we can and often do work alongside campaign groups in order to achieve improvements in services and in the lives of our children and young people. We often share the same aims and goals as campaigners and are happy to work with them by signposting and sharing information and feeding back to our members the issues they raise. The NNPCF statement can be found here.