Dudley SENDIASS

We offer free, confidential and impartial support to children and young people aged 0-25 years old with SEND and their parents and carers.

• Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice: 0-25 years

• Parents of children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities 0 – 25 years of age
• Children with SEND 0 – 16 years of age
• Young people 16 - 25 years of age with SEN or disabilities

Many children will access information, advice and support via their parents, but young people may want to access the service separately from their parents.

Young people can access the service and will receive confidential and impartial, information and support that will allow them to participate fully in decisions.

We can also work separately and impartially with both the parents and the young person, where there is a disagreement on an issue related to SEND.

• IASS video for Parents - what they are/how they can help?
• IASS video for Children and Young People - what they are/how they can help?

We provide free, accurate, impartial, confidential, information, advice and support relating to special educational needs (SEN), disability and related health and social care issues. This covers:

• Education law on SEN and related law on disability, health and social care
• Support to understand and interpret information relating to Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)
• Initial concerns related to potential SEN or disabilities
• Advice on the SEND provision available in education settings for children and young people who do not have an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) in place
• Support to request an EHCP and understanding the process
• Personalisation and managing a Personal Budget
• Support relating to disagreement resolution and managing mediation
• Help in understanding the SEND Tribunal appeal process
• Complaints relating to SEND including those relating to health and social care
• Exclusions relating to SEND
• Local policy and practice
• Dudley's SEND Local Offer
• Parent carer support groups, local SEN youth forums, local disability groups and training events
• Signposting to additional support services both locally and nationally where needed, including those provided by the voluntary sector
• Access to regular free information workshops/events on matters relating to SEN and disability
• A range of information leaflets. Available in a range of community languages and different formats on request
• We offer telephone and online consultations

We regularly work with nursery, primary and secondary schools, academies and post 16 settings, to promote positive engagement with parents, children and young people.

Referrals can be made by:

Parents and carers

Young people aged 16 - 25

Professionals

• Email dudley.sendiass@dudley.gov.uk
• Call the service mobile number 07900 161363
• My Dudley referral

Business hours are 9am-5pm Monday to Friday. 

The service is experiencing high numbers of enquiries from parents and young people.

We will endeavour to return your call or email within 7 working days.

In addition to the service helpline, we are also engaged with ongoing case management and meetings with parents and young people.

Thank you for your cooperation.

We provide a range of termly workshops and events to help parents, carers and young people develop their knowledge and understanding of special educational needs and disability issues.

Dudley SENDIASS has prepared a series of leaflets for parents, children and young people. These are also available in community languages.

We can provide information for young people with special educational needs and/or a disability between 16 and 25 years old.

• Access our SENDIASS Young Persons information page.

Dudley SENDIASS hosts Post 16 transition events with the aim of supporting young people with SEND to make the transition into Post-16 settings/training and adulthood by understanding the support available to them.

If you are a young person aged between 16 and 25, with Special Educational Needs and/or a Disability you have the right to contact SENDIASS separate from your family or carers. You will get access to a Young Person’s Case Officer who will be able to:

• Provide legally based information around SEND, be it education, health or social care.
• Signpost you to appropriate agencies if necessary
• Explain what type of support a school or college may offer you
• Support and advise you around the education, health and care needs assessment process and documentation
• Advise you on complaints around SEND issues and the appeal process around the EHCP
• Help in understanding mediation
• Personal budgets
• Dudley’s Local Offer and how we can use it to help find the support
• Information around mental capacity and making decisions
• Advocacy

In line with the Children and Families Act 2014 (Section 25) and the SEND Code of Practice 2014 (Chapter 3), a duty is placed on Local Authorities to make joint commissioning arrangements between the LA and CCG (now ICB) to ensure integration between educational provision and training provision, health and social care provision, where this would promote well-being and improve the quality of provision for children and young people (0-25 years) with SEND, with or without EHC plans.  NHS Dudley ICB is the NHS organisation responsible for commissioning (planning and buying) healthcare services for people registered with a GP in Dudley.

Dudley SENDIASS is the jointly commissioned service between Dudley LA and Dudley ICB providing impartial information, advice and support to parents of children with SEND and Young People (up to 25), with SEND with or without EHCPs, on matters around health and social care services and therapies that are available within the Dudley area. 

Latest Inspection

CQC and Ofsted Dudley Local Area SEND Inspection findings and recommendations report is published from Inspection 20 to 24 January 2025

The Care Quality and Commission and Ofsted have today published their report following their Dudley Local Area SEND inspection carried out in January.

INSPECTION OUTCOME

The local area partnership’s arrangements lead to inconsistent experiences and outcomes for children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The local area partnership must work jointly to make improvements.

The next full area SEND inspection will be within approximately three years.

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) ask that the local area partnership updates and publishes its strategic plan based on the recommendations set out in this report.

Although the report makes it clear there are areas where we still need to improve, it also shows that we have made progress and that as a partnership we are working together to improve the outcomes for children and young people with SEND. We will of course update our improvement plan and will continue our journey of improvement. We would like to thank you for your commitment, hard work and focus on improving outcomes for our children and young people

You can view the report on Ofsted’s Website

Joint Local Area SEND revisit announced for 31 January 2022

Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission found improvements in Dudley’s SEND services but concludes that more needs to be done in re-visit January 31 and Feb 3 2022.

Further information and links to the Ofsted and CQC full letter can be found in the statement from Catherine Driscoll, Director of Children’s Services Dudley and Neill Bucktin, Dudley Managing Director, Black Country and West Birmingham Clinical Commissioning Group.

​The purpose of the re-visit: to determine whether the local area has made sufficient progress in addressing the areas of significant weakness detailed in the written statement of action (WSOA) that was approved by the Department for Education in December 2019 following the borough's joint local area SEND inspection in May 2019.

• On 2nd March 2023 the Government published the SEND and alternative provision improvement plan. The plan sets out changes to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision system in England.
• New Area SEND inspections framework which comes into force on 1st January 2023.
• SEND Review: Right support, right place right time: Green Paper published March 2022, the Government are seeking views on the green paper about the changes they want to make to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and alternative provision (AP) system in England. The government is committed to improving outcomes for children and young people with SEND and those in alternative provision.
• Will Quince MP, Minister for Children and Families at the time wrote an open letter to parents and carers of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), their families and those who support them regarding the SEND Review and SEND Review Steering Group.

Dudley SEND Strategy 2021 - 2024 - 'All Different All Equal'

Education Travel Support

Elective Home Education

EOTAS (Education Otherwise Than At School)

Parent Carer Forum - to enable the voice of families of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to be heard in the local area.  

We Love Carers - aim to empower carers and their families by ensuring they have access to all the information they require. a

Lifted Spirits - a support group for families and carers of children and young people with disabilities.

All Stars Youth Club - caters for young people with Special Educational Needs and disabilities ages 11-25 years.

Me & U Youth Club - for autistic young people.

1. Afasic- voice for life
2. Autistica
3. British deaf association
4. Carer UK
5. Contact A family
6. Coram Children legal centre
7. Council for disabled children
8. Disability rights UK
9. Equality & human rights commission
10. Family lives
11. Speech and Language UK
12. Makaton charity
13. Mental health foundation
14. Sense
15. Together for short lives

Further information is available from the The Information, Advice and Support Service Network (IASS Network). You will also find useful resources providing information relating to children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities.