How SENDIAS can help

Our service is here to help Buckinghamshire children and young people with SEND aged 0 to 25 years and their parents or carers. We offer information, advice and support on all matters related to SEND. We are a small team of advisers supported by business support officers. Some of our team are volunteers.

Our service is:

• free of charge
• confidential, except where safeguarding rules require us to share information
• impartial and do not take sides
• independent from Buckinghamshire Council and health services
• trained in SEND law but are not legally qualified

We operate all year round, including in school holidays.

We can help you:

• understand SEND information and your options
• prepare for a meeting
• in exceptional circumstances, attend a meeting with you, usually remotely
• start a SEND Tribunal appeal and advise you after the local authority has responded

In exceptional circumstances, SENDIAS may provide further Tribunal support. The service decides this according to its policy and capacity.

We won’t let other people or services know that you have contacted us unless you want us to. The only exception is if there is a child protection enquiry about you or your child.

With your permission, we may sometimes contact other people or services on your behalf. This might be if it is difficult for you to do so yourself.

This includes relevant professionals in education, health and social care, for example, a social worker, health visitor, family support worker or SENCo. We will discuss with you who it might be useful to contact and will only do so if you agree.

The Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulate the way we use your personal information.

You have the right for your personal information to be treated securely, confidentially and with sensitivity and respect. We would only share information without your consent in very exceptional circumstances when there is reason to believe there is a risk of harm to a child, a young person or a third party.

Read our Privacy Notice.

If you are already receiving personalised SEND advice from a paid consultant or lawyer, SENDIAS will usually limit its help to signposting to avoid duplication or conflicting advice.

Tell us if you need extra help, for example because English is an additional language or you have a disability. We will do our best to help.

Find your local SENDIAS service.

If you need help or want to ask a question, complete our online contact form.

After we have completed your request, we will close that piece of work so we can help other service users. If you have a new query, submit a new online form.