2425-0002 Special Educational Needs and / or Disabilities, Information, Advice & Support Service (SENDIASS)

Description

Islington Council invites suitable expressions of interest from suppliers for the above.

The requirement

The service will provide free, impartial, confidential, and accessible information, advice and support about matters relating to Special Educational Needs (SEN) and / or disabilities (SEND) including matters relating to education, health, and social care. This must also include information, advice and support on the take-up and management of Personal Budgets. A key objective of the service is to ensure children and their parents and young people have sufficient information and support necessary to participate in decision making.
The service will be compliant with Chapter 2 of the Statutory SEND Code of Practice, Section 32 of the Children and Families Act and the National Minimum Standards finalised in September 2018 in consultation with the Department for Education.
The mode of support will be via all of the following: 
•	A direct telephone helpline (with answering machine, offering a callback, and signposting service at times when calls cannot be answered) 
•	Website, which includes 
o	Contact details of the service 
o	Opening hours 
o	Response times 
o	Information on a range of SEND topics 
o	Signposting to other useful groups including Islington's Parent Carer Forum and the Family Carer's Action Group, youth forums as well as national helplines 
o	Signposting to Islington's Local Offer 
o	Key policies including the Service's complaints procedure 
•	Email and  
•	Face to face by appointment 
The service specified will be available to service users who are:
•	Parents and carers of children with SEN and / or disabilities aged 0 - 25, for whom the local authority is responsible; and 
•	Young people (typically aged 16 - 25) with SEN and / or disabilities for whom the local authority is responsible. 

The service scope includes initial concerns or identification of potential SEN and / or disabilities, through to ongoing support and provision including children and young people who are supported at the level of SEN Support through to those who may need to be assessed or already have an Education, Health & Care Plan (EHCP). The service will ensure children, young people and parents and carers are provided with information and advice on matters relating to SEN and disability which includes: 
•	local policy and practice 
•	the Local Offer 
•	personalisation and Personal Budgets 
•	law on SEN and disability, health, and social care, through suitable, independently trained staff
•	advice for children, young people, and parents and carers on gathering, understanding, and interpreting information and applying it to their own situation
•	progression to adulthood and transition to adult services including universal services 
•	information on the local authority's processes for resolving disagreements, its complaints procedures and means of redress