West Midlands Placement Portal

Pilot Project – Live Referrals 4 June 

The first referral of the pilot project was uploaded to the portal on 7 May.  Around 70 referrals have been uploaded since that time, with more than 40 providers having made an offer. We are receiving positive feedback from Providers and Local Authorities on how easy and quick the system is to use. From the latest provider survey: 

  • 88% said it was easy to navigate 

  • 94% said it had a Logical and intuitive flow 

  • 94% said they are confident using the portal and would recommend it 

This positive feedback is encouraging and gives us confidence that the portal will deliver positive benefits for providers.   

However, some feedback scores are lower:  

  • 65% think the time to view referrals has reduced and the portal has less glitches. 

  • 59% think communication with Local Authorities are more streamlined.  

These scores deserve further investigation before we go live to ensure maximum engagement from providers and a positive user experience.   

This has all contributed to our decision to delay the go live date and extend the pilot project phase. This will allow us to get ready as much as possible for Go Live. To see what you need to do to prepare for go Live, click here. (link to Go Live page) 

If you are an approved provider who can access referrals in the new portal, please check for appropriate referrals multiple times a day. To fully test the system and be confident in launching it, we need as many providers as possible to be engaging with referrals.  

You will not receive email notifications when a referral has been uploaded to the new portal until July 2026. This is a temporary measure until email notifications are in place.  

You will only see referrals if you are registered for the relevant category of care within the referral (age, gender, service type and category of care). As there are currently a limited number of referrals uploaded, you may not yet see any if you are not registered for the relevant category of care. As more referrals are uploaded, they will begin to appear on your dashboard.  

Please check your provider profile that you are registered for the correct categories of care. You will be able to make edits to your provider profile when the edit function becomes available in June 2026.  

Pilot Project Scope: 

  • Birmingham Local Authority will upload Supported Accommodation and Residential referrals to the new portal.   

  • Coventry Local Authority will upload Fostering and Residential referrals to the new portal.   

  • Stoke Local Authority will upload Fostering, Residential and Supported Accommodation referrals to the new portal.   

  • Non-pilot Local Authorities will continue to upload all referrals to the current portal.