Our advisers
How to contact us
We are an impartial, friendly team of trained
advisers with expertise in supporting parents,
children and young people on any issue related to
SEND. As part of this, Independent Supporters can
be available to support you during the new statutory
assessment process or transfer from a statement or
a learning difficulty assessment to an Education,
Health and Care Plan (EHCP).
If you would like help from our service, including
Independent Support, please call 01296 383754 or
email sendias@buckscc.gov.uk
Accountability
We are accountable to a steering group with
membership from parents of children with SEND,
young people with SEND and professionals
specialising in SEND.
Our answerphone is available 24 hours.
If you do not speak English, please ask an English
speaker to ring on your behalf - we can then
arrange an interpreter to help us to help you.
For further information about our service and to
find links and resources on SEND please see our
webpages http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/send-ias
Useful information
SEN Code of Practice (for those with Statements of
SEN): http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/2013040
1151715/https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/
eOrderingDownload/0581-2001-SENCodeofPractice.pdf
SEND Code of Practice for those with Education,
Health and Care Needs Assessments or Plans
(replacing Statements and Learning Difficulty
Assessments by 31 March 2018) and SEN Support
(funded by schools and colleges):
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sendcode-of-practice-0-to-25
Buckinghamshire SEND IAS Service is impartial and
at arm’s length from the local authority.
Funded By
Buckinghamshire
Special Educational
Needs and Disabilities
Information, Advice and
Support (SEND IAS)
Service
What can you expect from the SEND
IAS Service?
What information do we provide?
How else can we help?
All local authorities, by law, have to provide
impartial information and advice on special
educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to:
We offer accurate and up to date resources and
information about the law on special educational
needs and disability. This covers:
Sometimes information alone is not enough. You
may want help to gather information, make sense of
it and apply it to your own situation. We call this
advice and we offer this service by email, on the
telephone, face to face and through work with
groups or in training.
 Children with SEND
 Their parents/carers
 Young people (aged 16 - 25) with SEND
Buckinghamshire SEND IAS Service is the one-stop
impartial information, advice and support service
here.
Our service is impartial – we do not take sides.
We are not biased towards or influenced by any
particular party, point of view or policy, including
local authorities, schools, education ideologies and
campaigns. We do not give priority to any particular
impairment, disability or SEN over another. The law
is our reference point.
Our service is confidential - Any information
about a parent, child or young person, including
whether or not they have been in contact with
Bucks SEND IAS Service must not be shared with
anyone outside of the service unless permission has
been given for information to be shared or there are
strong public interest concerns, i.e. child protection.
Our service is at arm’s length from the local
authority – we are able to act independently and
impartially with no undue influence or control from
Buckinghamshire County Council or local Clinical
Commissioning Groups.
 education, health and social care
 national and local policy
 the Local Offer
 your rights and choices
 your opportunities to participate
 where you can find help and advice
 how you can access this support
Advice is:
 Realistic and accurate
 Offered in terms of options and possible
outcomes
 Seeks to empower you to make informed
decisions
Examples of the information we provide include:
 how to work well with your school or college
 school or college SEND support
 statutory assessment
 Statements/Education, Health and Care plans
 disability discrimination
 exclusions
 medical needs
 how to make a complaint
We can also offer more intensive support if you
need it. This can include helping with letters,
attending meetings with you or supporting you in
discussions with the local authority, school or other
setting.
Support is:
 Non-judgmental
 Empathetic
 Allows emotions to be expressed
 Unhurried
 Conciliatory