This resource provides information and support for children and young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND). It is called the SEND Local Offer and Warwickshire County Council has been working hard to improve its SEND Local Offer to ensure that families with SEND can find the information they need.

Every local authority in England must produce and maintain a Local Offer. It brings together information about the local services and support available across education, health, and social care for families with children and young people aged 0 to 25 who have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Consultations with families, young people and professionals in Warwickshire across five months revealed that it wasn’t always easy to find the information they were looking for in the Local Offer. A task group of Warwickshire County Council officers and independent parent carers have worked together with young people and practitioners to address these concerns.

The group explored the understanding gained from these local evaluations with a mapping exercise across 167 other local authority inspection reports. They also cross-referenced against current SEND legislation on what must be included in a Local Offer.

The group worked on improving the navigation issues which were impeding access to information. They have created 12 broad categories to help people find what they were looking for within a more accessible and logical format. On completion, this was re-checked across a range of people through online exercises designed to identify and evaluate the user experience.

The process of redesigning the navigational aspects of the Local Offer enabled the group to identify where the problems in locating information and support were. Importantly, it also helped identify where there were gaps in information or provision. Mapping current information and services across the new categories is now underway. This work will continue alongside development of new information and resources that will see further updates to the Local Offer in the future.

Councillor Jeff Morgan, Portfolio Holder for Children and Families said: “Warwickshire County Council is committed to continuous improvement to build an interactive Local Offer that residents can be proud of. Actively engaging with people and working productively together within a ‘you said, we did’ approach is an integral part of our work going forwards. We were grateful for all the input from children, young people, professionals, parents and carers that fed into the redesign. Please do take a look and tell us what you think.”

Find the SEND Local Offer here: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/send