Every year many thousands of parents and professionals receive help through their local authority's Family Information Service. These information teams provide a wide range of essential information about childcare, children's centres, play, sports and arts activities for children, youth clubs, parenting classes and so on. But if parents and children are to benefit from the range of services available locally, they should know what is on offer. This need for information has been recognised by the Government and today all local authorities in England have Family Information Services whose role is set out in the Childcare Act 2006 and in statutory guidance. Following on from research in 2011 the Family and Childcare Trust has undertaken a survey of Family Information Services in England. This survey aimed to give a comprehensive picture of the scale and nature of enquiries, staffing, outreach practices and the impact of spending cuts. Some 90 per cent of Family Information Services responded to the survey. (author abstract)