Welcome to the Wakefield District Families Information Service website. 

This website has been developed to provide information and signposting for all issues affecting children, families and young people.

The Wakefield District Families Information Service (FIS) is provided and delivered by Wakefield Council.  It is an integrated service comprising:

• Choice Advice Service      
• Families Information Service
• Parent Partnership Service

From a single point of contact, we provide free, impartial, advice and support to parents and carers who:  

• are applying for a school place,
• would like to access childcare or other services and support for families,
• have a child who has, or may have, special educational needs.

The FIS is able to provide families with information on a wide range of subjects such as parenting and relationships, childcare, physical and mental health, sports, play and recreational opportunities, support services for young people, and much more.  This information can be found in the Family Services Directory 

The FIS also provides an information service that can directly support parents as well as referring them to services and information available at a national level through websites, helplines and printed materials.

Our Aims

• To support parents and carers to access services, facilities or publications that will support them or their children.
• To reach out to those families who may be at a disadvantage and overcome barriers to access.

FIS Policies

Copies of the FIS policies for Equal Opportunities, Confidentiality, Impartiality and our Statement of Service can be viewed in Related Downloads.

Comments and Compliments

The FIS welcomes comments from users of our service and visitors to this website.  We actively encourage feedback on all aspects of your experience of using our service.  As part of our quality assurance we closely monitor customer feedback which we use to help identify potential areas for service improvement.  If you would like to provide us with feedback you can use the Online Enquiry / Feedback Form (on Contact Us page), phone the Information Team on 0800 587 8042, fax us on 01924 306262, email us at fis@wakefield.gov.uk, text 07624 809247 or write to us at the address on the Contact Us page.

The following are a selection of comments received recently from users of our service through an evaluation form:-

"Thank you Mick, this is really useful. I will have a read through and get back to you if I have any queries. Much appreciated."  25/01/12

"The service I was given was efficient & effective and the people I spoke to were friendly & very helpful and they made the process very easy.  Without this I would have had to stop working...During a time in my life where many other stress related changes were occurring, my worries were reduced.  Thank you." 27/10/11

"Just to praise the member of staff who I spoke to and who emailed me the information within that same day...Fabulous advice." 18/10/11

"I have used this service in the past as well and have always found it to be an excellent service, special thanks to Mick who was exceedingly helpful this time and made the call to yourselves a real pleasure." 3/10/11

"This is fantastic, thank you so much.  I have used the service twice now and both times it has been exceptional." 8/9/11

"Once again the information was clear and accurate. the adviser was friendly, efficient and knowledgeable.  This is an invaluable service and allows me to pass information on to my clients" 18/4/11

"Thank you very much for this information and the referral form Mick, your support and swift response are much appreciated." 5/4/11

"The service has improved greatly as it has developed and now is efficient, helpful and a great help to many families.  As a Parent Support Adviser I promote the service to families I work with" 10/3/11

Complaints

We hope to settle any complaints quickly and informally. In the first instance any complaints should be made to the FIS Manager using any of the contact methods outlined in the Contact Us section.  If you are unhappy with your response, a complaint can be made to the Family Services Complaints Team by calling 01924 302840 or email familyservicescomplaints@wakefield.gov.uk