Co-production Week is always a moment to pause, reflect, and celebrate the power of working together. But in Manchester, co-production isn’t something we switch on for a themed week or a single project. It’s business as usual.
Manchester’s Model of Participation is built on the firm belief that the best services are designed and delivered with the people who use them.
Together we have developed a model based on genuine partnership, shared decision-making, and mutual respect and trust.
At the heart of this are the relationships we’ve built across our parent and carer community:
- Manchester Parent Carer Forum
- Manchester Parent Champions
- SPACE Group
- Working Together Group
- Changemakers
Between them they provide strategic insight, challenge, and leadership, bringing lived experience into everyday conversations, shaping and influencing the SEND system.
These relationships are ongoing, trusted, and embedded in how we work together.
From Consultation to Co-production
Co-production means more than asking for views. It means designing together, sharing decision-making and recognising lived experience as expertise.
In Manchester, this means:
- Parents, carers and young people shaping strategic priorities across SEND
- Improving how services communicate with families
- Services working with families from the start, not the end, of planning and design.
- Ongoing conversations that inform continuous improvement.
- Building on the strength of parent-carers, children and young people and their communities.
Our Parent Carer Forum plays a vital leadership role within Manchester’s system. They don’t just reflect views; they help shape decisions, influence priorities, and hold partners to account.
Our Parent Champions also shape strategic decision making, alongside bringing insight that cannot be replicated through formal processes. Together they:
- Share real experiences of navigating services
- Highlight barriers as they emerge
- Help ensure solutions are practical, inclusive, and accessible
Our wider participation groups and networks strengthen this even further ensuring that a broad range of voices and communities are heard and embedded across our work.
The theme this year for co-production week is equity and this is why our wide networks of parents, carers and young people is so important, reflecting the diversity of the city.
Together, they ensure our work is grounded in lived experience at every level.
A Whole-System Approach
What makes Manchester unique is that co-production isn’t confined to one area or team — it is recognised as a way of working across the system.
We see this in:
- Strategic planning
- Service design
- Delivery and continuous improvement
Whether developing something new or improving what already exists, co-production is built from the start.
This consistency builds trust, improves outcomes, and creates services that better reflect the needs of Manchester’s families.
What We’ve Learned
Our journey has taught us some important lessons:
- Co-production takes time.
- Strong relationships are key.
- It requires honesty and transparency to build trust.
- It means sharing decision-making – not just listening, but acting together.
- It’s continuous – not a one-off activity.
Often, it’s the small changes, clearer communication, earlier involvement, more inclusive spaces — that make the biggest difference.
Moving Forward
As we mark Co-production Week, we’re proud of how far we’ve come, however we’re equally focused on what comes next, learning lessons and improving.
We will continue to work together to:
- Grow and diversify our network of parents and young people
- Strengthen our partnerships
- Reach more voices across our communities
- Keep embedding co-production in everything we and our partners do.
Because in Manchester, co-production isn’t a theme for the week, it’s how we work and will continue to work.
Co-production only works because of the people who give their time, share their experiences, and work alongside us to make change happen.
We want to say a sincere thank you to:
- Manchester Parent Carer Forum for their ongoing leadership, challenge, and partnership
- Manchester Parent Champions, SPACE and The Working Together Network for bringing lived experience into every conversation and strengthening participation and connection across the system
- The Changemakers, who ensure the voices of children and young people, are heard, represented, and valued.
- Youth partnership – Bringing together young people and voluntary & community partners to strengthen children’s and young people’s voice
Your contributions continue to shape and develop Manchester’s approach and make a real difference to families across the city.
The SEND Engagement & Local Offer Team
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