Empowering Hammersmith & Fulham
Customer success story
Crafting a unified award-winning Family Hub through insight-driven transformation
The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (LBHF) identified an opportunity to improve their community’s digital experience, focusing on creating a unified, connected online Family Hub using LocalGov Drupal (LGD). This initative aimed to simplify access to Family Information Services for families across the borough, including those with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
This project represents a transformative opportunity to empower the Hammersmith & Fulham community by addressing critical needs from early childhood to adult life, especially for those with SEND, it simplifies access to vital services whilst fostering an inclusive, supportive environment.
Project overview
The initiation of the Family Hubs and Start for Life programme by the Department for Education (DfE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) highlighted the importance for local authorities to enhance the way they provide guidance and support for families.
LBHF was ahead in this area, having launched Beta versions of their Family Information Services (FIS), SEND Local Offer and a Family Information Directory of Services. The next step was to intergrate these services seamlessly into a single, user friendly platform.
Invuse teamed up with LBHF, conducting thorough research to understand the community’s needs. Engaging with core groups including parents, young people, carers, and professionals, pinpointed areas to enhance content for ease of access, understanding, and self-service. Key insights directly shaped the development of a more navigable and intuitive Family Hub.
Top 3 Family Hub
challenges
Family Hubs are new for councils
Family Hubs are quite new for councils and guidance on setting them up is limited. With tough rules from the DfE to follow, LBHF wanted support from a partner who thoroughly understand what Family Hubs need to achieve.
Merging different services together
Merging different services like the SEND Local Offer, Family Information Directory, andgeneral Family Information Services into one clear, digital place was crucial. Bringing services together in a way that made them easy to access and use for everyone in the community was essential.
Making people aware of online services
Family Hubs are quite new for councils and guidance on setting them up is limited. With tough rules from the DfE to follow, LBHF wanted support from a partner who thoroughly understand what Family Hubs need to achieve.
Our approach
to tackling the project
Together, LBHF and Invuse took a comprehensive approach, prioritising genuine engagement with users of Family Information Services. We delved into their challenges and asked what improvements they wished to see, all with the goal of crafting a solution that made calling the council a last resort.
The results and outcomes
By ensuring our outputs closely align with the needs of end-users, we naturally meet the DfE’s requirements,
leading to a platform that is not only compliant with GDS and WCAG standards but also truly resonates withand serves the community effectively.
The key results achieved for Hammersmith & Fulham are outlined below. The figures highlight the crucial
time-saving improvements made by making information clearer and more simple.
This led to Hammersmith & Fulham being awarded ‘Best Local Offer’ in the National Association of Family Information Services (NAFIS) Awards – a prestigious recognition judged by parent champions. LBHF expressed their appreciation, saying: “The team was amazing to work with and really went all out to provide us with a comprehensive view of our content and users, that’s still being referenced months after the project!”
39.9%
taken to complete
key user journeys
-3 yrs
average reading age
of website content
20+
resolved across
52 pages
User Journey 1: Young person with SEND looking for information on where you would like to live.
User Journey 2: Looking for next steps after submitting your child’s education, health and care plan (EHCP)
User Journey 3: Looking for an after school activity for a child with autism close to where you live.
User Journey 4: Parent looking for NHS speech and language therapy for your 7-year old
User Journey 5: Looking for an appropiate afterschool activity for a 14-year old who likes to draw
It was a privilege to be part of this project and work closely with the team to achieve some outstanding results. From start to finish the project ensured we engaged with the right people, and the commitment from LBHF to make a change was key to the success. The council should be very proud of themselves, as they’ve set the way for delivering an excellent family hub that other councils should
take note of.
