What is the Local Offer?
Describing the Local Offer
The East Sussex Local Offer is how we make parents, carers, children and young people aware of what support is available to them for Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).
The Government asks that all local authorities (in our case East Sussex County Council) provide information as clearly as possible so that parents and carers can make informed decisions for children and young people. This information must cover the whole range of services and support available as well as explain how different processes work and where children, young people, parents and carers can go for advice and guidance.
The East Sussex Local Offer consists of:
- This site, which provides information and outlines how different SEND processes work, and
- A SEND specific directory listing useful providers and services, which can be found on East Sussex 1Space.
You can visit the directory on 1Space, by clicking the link below:
What Does the Law Say About the Local Offer?
There are a number of laws that govern the Local Offer.
The laws were created to ensure that professionals fulfilled their duty to cooperate between services for the benefit of families and young people. This includes:
Which sets out that Local Authorities must have a Local Offer.
Chapter 4 details what information each local authority is expected to provide within it's local offer.
As part of ensuring all sectors and services are cooperating and working together to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND, the government has asked Ofsted to carry out local area SEND inspections.
Please note: All of the links in this section open the websites in a new tab.
How Was the Local Offer Website Designed?
East Sussex Local Offer has been designed and written through a process of consultation with:
- Parents, carers, children and young people
- The East Sussex Parent Carer Forum (ESPCF) and Amaze
- Service leads from a number of SEND services in East Sussex
- Schools and health professionals
The information on this site will continue to evolve and be updated. If you are interested in feeding back on any particular part of the site, or would like to look at ways to contribute, please visit our page:
Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms
Some of the terms used on this website are explained on our page, 'Glossary of East Sussex SEND Terms':