Nottingham City Council is seeking views on the way it signposts help and support for children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

The Local Offer was launched in September 2014 to offer information, advice and support, and continue to develop an online directory of services.

It is part of the City Council’s plan to work with the NHS and schools to offer families a more joined-up service across education, health and social care, as set out in the SEND reforms within the Children and Families Act 2014.

People are now being invited to take part in a short survey to help the Council to continue to develop the Local Offer website. The link to the survey is here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/VBYGMVT.

It is essential that the Council gets the opinions of those who benefit most from the Local Offer website so that it can continue to deliver the best possible service for children, young people and families with special educational needs and disabilities.

The long-term vision is to create a Local Offer website that offers information, advice and support in Nottingham, meaning services that were once delivered in isolation by different partners are now much more joined-up to create a hub of support around our families.

The Local Offer website contains information and advice on services and support for parents, carers or young people, including:

  • Education, such as schools, playgroups and support services
  • Social Care
  • Health
  • Getting around
  • Activities and events

It also covers support groups in the voluntary sector. The website is available at www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/localoffer.

The changes last September were in line with the Government’s SEND reforms within the new Children and Families Act and along with the new website include:

  • Joint commissioning of special needs services between the City Council and the NHS to ensure the right support is in place for families in Nottingham
  • Education, Health and Care Plans replace Statements of Special Educational Needs (for under-16s) and Learning Difficulty Assessments (for over-16s) for those with the most profound and complex special needs and disabilities
  • Personal budgets will be available for some families, giving them more control over the services they choose to receive

Around 570 children in Nottingham with a current Statement of Special Educational Needs will transfer to the new Education, Health and Care Plan. In total, one-fifth of pupils in City schools have some form of special need, such as behaviour, emotional and social difficulties or speech, language and communication needs.