Co-production Charter - Foundations of Working Together
Purpose of our charter
Co-production is not just about how professionals work with parents and carers, it is a way of working that everyone across the local area needs to understand and own. Knowing what co-production is (and what it is not) is essential, as is giving people the knowledge and confidence to develop great ways of working by starting together and staying together.
This charter is for anyone in Stockton-on-Tees who works with children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their families to help everyone understand:
- what co‑production really means
- the shared principles that underpin and embed co‑production across the Local Area Partnership
- other ways of working together that can support great outcomes for children and young people
Our aim is to make sure children, young people, parents, carers and practitioners across Stockton-on-Tees have a clear and consistent understanding of how we work together to support good outcomes for our children and young people.
This charter sets out the principles that we believe support true co-production and information about our other methods of working together, including co-design, collaboration and communication.
The Local Area Partnerships and our journey to co-production
In Stockton-on-Tees, we believe that the best outcomes for children and young people with SEND happen when everyone works together. Previously, our Local Area Partnership created a Co-production Charter to highlight how important lived experience is and how valuable it is to work alongside parents and carers. Our partnership has grown and changed over time and we feel it is the right time to refresh our approach.
We recognise that while not every piece of work will be completed in full co-production, there are many meaningful ways of working together that can still lead to excellent outcomes. What matters most is that co-production is understood, genuinely valued and never feels tokenistic or like something is being "done to" children, young people and their families.
With a strong local area partnership in place - with wide membership and strength in relationships - now is the right time to explore the idea of working together and co-production with everyone around the table. To update our approach, we spoke to children and young people, parents, carers, education, health, social care and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) partners. Their views have shaped this charter, helping us identify what true co-production and partnership working looks and feels like.
As a local area partnership, we know there is more to do to build a shared understanding of co-production and to ensure the voices and experiences of children and young people guide everything we do. By refreshing our approach, we aim to place children, young people, parents and carers firmly at the heart of our work.
Setting the foundations of working together: Our guiding principles
In all of our methods of partnership working we believe and will follow these guiding principles:
Start together, stay together
We recognise the importance of having a shared understanding from the start, including what is to be achieved and will ensure that all parties are valued and remain involved throughout our methods of working.
Responsive to need
Our decisions and development work will be based on the feedback our families are giving us. We will involve all partners, offer flexibility to meet the needs of individuals, to enable inclusion and embrace diversity. This will include accessibility of venues, location, timings and resources and explore different methods to remove barriers, enabling all to take part equally.
Voices at the heart
Children, young people, and families' voices are central to everything we do. The children and young people, parents and carers of Stockton-on-Tees have the right to have their voices heard and will be central to the decision-making processes that impact their lives and wellbeing.
Honesty and transparency
We will practice honest and open communication, checking our understanding of each other's views.
Value experience
The contribution of all partners including parents, carers, children and young people are vital when making decisions. We will all acknowledge we are experts in our own field and give equal value to each other's contributions.
Actively listen and respect differences
All views will be listened to and acknowledged without judgment, respecting each other's backgrounds and lived experience.
Co-production: What does it mean in Stockton-on-Tees
Co-production means:
- working as partners from start to finish, with people who use services and those who run them having an equal relationship
- shared design, ownership and responsibility
Children, young people, parents and carers are equal partners, not consulted after decisions have been made. Co-production is built on mutual respect, trust and transparency, ensuring that services reflect both lived experience and professional knowledge.
Partners, including parents, carers, children and young people share ownership and responsibility from the very start in: Identifying issues; Shaping solutions; Making decisions on service design and delivery; Evaluating outcomes and identifying next steps.
As a local area partnership, our charter mark will be displayed to highlight when work has been carried out in co-production.
Co-production: Putting into practice
Co‑production is a journey; when we create the right conditions, it should feel natural. As a Local Area Partnership, we expect each other to 'think co-production' through all of the different stages when we work together, asking ourselves:
- can children, young people, families or partners genuinely help shape the decisions being made?
- can the design, delivery and outcomes change depending on what the group decides?
- are the right people involved, available, and supported to take part?
- can we remain curious?
- is there enough time in the plan to listen, think about feedback, make changes and try things again if needed?
- can all partners involved have equal ownership over decisions?
Even if work does not begin as co‑production, it can still happen at different stages throughout the lifecycle of a project or programme.
Working together
We know that it is not always possible for everyone to share full responsibility for developing services or projects. But even when full co‑production is not the best fit, we believe it is still important to build in the principles of co-design, collaboration or good communication wherever we can.
Co-design: What does it mean in Stockton-on-Tees?
Co‑design means working together to help shape and improve an idea or service before it's put in place.
Co‑design brings practitioners, children, young people, parent and carers together to jointly create policies, pathways, services or resources that work in real life. It focuses on designing solutions with the people who use them, drawing on experts by experience to shape ideas, test options and refine what will be delivered. Co‑design is about working in partnership during the creative and planning stages: this way of working makes sure that the final service reflects real experiences, evidence and captures how things work in practice.
Co-design involves:
- agreeing shared values and principles that set the tone for honest, respectful collaboration
- involving children, young people, parents, carers and practitioners early and meaningfully, in the design process
- exploring needs and challenges together, ensuring experts by experience
- shape the understanding of the problem
developing and refining ideas collaboratively in a range of different ways
Co-design: Putting it into practice
We will put in place:
- design workshops where parent carers, young people and professionals jointly map out what a pathway should look like
- storyboarding or journey‑mapping sessions to understand real experiences and identify what needs to change
- prototype testing, such as trying out draft forms, guidance documents or digital tools with families
joint problem‑solving sessions to explore different options and agree what will work best in practice
Collaboration: What does it mean in Stockton-on-Tees?
Collaboration and engagement means working together to achieve shared goals for children and young people with SEND. It is about bringing different people, perspectives and responsibilities together to improve outcomes, strengthen systems and make sure services are connected and responsive.
Although the final decision will lie with the service area responsible they work across the SEND system to gather and listen to the views of children, young people, families and practitioners, using simple and accessible ways to help shape thinking, influence decisions and keep an open, ongoing conversation.
This way of working helps create consistent, effective support that children, young people and families can rely on.
Partners - including parents, carers, children and young people - work together with the aim of:
- solving problems together
- planning in a coordinated and joined‑up way
- respecting each partner's role, expertise and contribution and use it to
- inform decisions.
- working together toward a common goal
Collaboration: Putting it into practice
We will put in place:
- inviting and listening to the voices of children, young people, parents, carers, and frontline practitioners, ensuring a wide range of experiences are represented
- using accessible methods to gather feedback, such as surveys, polls, events, workshops, and community activities
- feeding back what was heard, and how the information influenced or will influence decisions
- building understanding together, by exploring issues, challenges and lived experiences
Communication: What does it mean in Stockton-on-Tees
Communication and information sharing means that the people responsible for services - and those leading programmes of work - keep children, young people, families and practitioners informed about what services are available, ongoing development work being carried out and how services work. This includes sharing clear, accessible and timely information so people understand what support they can expect and how decisions are made.
Communication and information sharing is about keeping people informed rather than involving them in shared decision‑making. It focuses on sharing clear, timely and accessible updates so children, young people, parents, carers and practitioners understand what services do and what to expect, without being directly involved in shaping or deciding the work.
It involves:
- providing clear, transparent and accessible information about services, processes, pathways and changes
- explaining how decisions are made and what children, young people, parents, and carers can expect at each stage
- updating people regularly, especially when changes affect them
- making information easy to understand, avoiding acronyms and using plain language
Communication: Putting it into practice
We will put in place:
- regular updates through emails, websites or the Local Offer explaining what is happening and why
- plain‑language explanations of processes such as referrals, assessments or waiting lists
- information sessions where services explain changes and answer questions
- easy‑to-find contact details so families and practitioners know who to speak to for help or clarification
How will we know we are making a difference?
The progress and impact of our co-production charter will be overseen by our SEND Strategic Improvement and Reform Board.
Self-evaluation and benchmarking
As part of our annual self-evaluation process, we will benchmark our progress in co-production using the principles that we have developed within this charter.
Embedding the values and principles of co-production
Over the next 12 months we will establish a network of co-production champions, who will raise awareness of the culture and values that sit at the heart of co-production, and support their services and networks to put them in place.
Measuring the impact
Our quality assurance processes will identify the impact of co-production on the outcomes for children and young people. The following organisations and guidance offer clear, practical insights into co‑production, along with tools and examples that can support effective partnership working.
Useful resources
Co-production - TLAP (Think Local Act Personal)
A national partnership that provides practical frameworks and principles for meaningful co-production in health and social care.
Offers guidance, policy insights, and participation tools designed to strengthen co-production with children, young people and families.
Co-production: what it is and how to do it - SCIE (Social Care Institute for Excellence)
A comprehensive introduction to co-production, including definitions, practice examples and step-by-step approaches.
Guidance on co-production within health services, including standards, case studies, and practical methods for involving people with lived experience.
