Summary of Local Offer: Key facts that you need to know

  • The local offer has two key purposes:

- To provide clear, comprehensive and accessible information about the provision available; and

-To make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations by directly involving children and young people with SEN, parents and carers, and service providers in its development and review.

The local offer should not simply be a directory of existing services. The process of developing the local offer is intended to help local authorities and their health partners to improve provision.

  • What is the Swindon Local Offer?

The Local Offer is published information about what services and support children with Special Educational Needs and disabilities (SEND) can access in Swindon and surrounding areas. Just as importantly, children and their families must be involved in developing and reviewing the Local Offer. Their comments about the Local Offer will be published along with a response from Swindon Borough Council. The aim of this involvement is to make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations.

  • Publishing the Local Offer is a statutory requirement for Local Authorities, health and education providers.
  • The Local Offer must be published by September 2014.
  • Swindon Borough Council will need to outline the broad offer for children with SEN in Swindon, covering services it provides directly and those provided by others, such as schools and health services. The Local Authority must also publish information about how to seek an Education, Health and Care Assessment and where to access information, advice and support.
  • What must the Local Offer information cover?

The Local Offer must cover information on: Education, Health, Social Care, Training and Apprenticeships, Transport, Preparing for adulthood, finding somewhere to live, and participating in the community.

  • Local authorities must involve children and young people with SEN and their parents in:

-Planning the content of the local offer;

-Deciding how to publish the local offer;

-Reviewing the local offer and enabling them to give feedback on the local offer.

How we will develop the Local Offer in Swindon

Project plans-

Our project plan and timeline can be viewed on the schools online website; it gives an overview of the phases, milestones and deadlines that our project team are structuring their work around.

Web Solution-

We will publish our Local Offer on a website, as well as making it accessible in other forms, such as a hard copy held in a central location within Swindon Borough Council, via a telephone service, and a central drop-in service where the public can access Local Offer information by speaking to a member of staff.

The online resource is being developed in conjunction with the new Adult Information and Advice Service to ensure that a streamlined approach is maintained between Swindon’s 0-25 provision and adult services. The Local Offer project team are currently engaging with parent carers, and young people’s services to gather experiences and opinions on the format and content of the resource.

Key Dates-

-SEN Forum on30th JANUARY 2014will be specifically focused on the development of the Local Offer. It will run from 08:15 until 12:00 in the Sir Daniel Gooch room at the STEAM Museum in Swindon.

If you would like to attend this event, or for more information on future SEN Forums, please contact Carolyn Esmonde-White:

Delivery milestones:

Milestone / Proposed Deadline
Review progress of providers / 01-Apr-14
Draft LA Offer / 01-Jun-14
Draft plan for publishing and review / 01-Jun-14
Review Local Offer (editorial and consultation) / 30-Sep-14
Agree Local Offer / 01-Oct-14