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Our policies and values

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Our policies and values

Our policies and values

Please have a read of our policies below before contacting our service.

 

Impartiality statement

 

What do we mean by impartial information, advice, and support?

This information is about the impartial information, advice and support required by the SEND Code of Practice.

 What does the SEND Code of Practice say?

The Children and Families Act 2014 says local authorities must provide information advice and support about special educational needs (SEN), disability, health and social care for children, young people and parents. The SEND Code of Practice says: Local authorities must arrange for children with SEN or disabilities for whom they are responsible, and their parents, and young people with SEN or disabilities for whom they are responsible, to be provided with information and advice about matters relating to their SEN or disabilities, including matters relating to health and social care. This must include information, advice and support on the take-up and management of Personal Budgets. In addition, in carrying out their duties under Part 3 of the Children and Families Act 2014, local authorities must have regard to the importance of providing children and their parents and young people with the information and support necessary to participate in decisions. (2.1) This means that every local authority should provide a service that is free, easy to access and confidential and that can help children, parents and young people take part in decisions that affect their lives. The Local Offer must include information about the sources of information, advice and support for parents, children and young people and how this is resourced. In Waltham Forest Local Authority this service is provided by Waltham Forest SEND IASS.

What do we mean when we say we are impartial?

The SEND Code of Practice says: The information, advice and support should be impartial and provided at arm’s length from the local authority and Clinical Commissioning Groups (2.8) This means that the information, advice and support that we offer are firmly based in the law and the SEND Code of Practice. We provide unbiased information and advice about the local authority’s policies and procedures and about the policy and practice in local schools and other settings. We do not give priority to any particular impairment, disability or special educational need, nor do we campaign for any particular approach to education. By being impartial we aim to help parents, children and young people have clear, accurate and relevant information that will help them take part in decisions about their lives. How do we know that we are impartial? It is very easy to be biased. Everyone has opinions about most things! Sometimes people can be biased without even realising it. That is why we really value your opinion about the information, advice and support we offer. We want you to tell us if you think we are not impartial. To help us check that we are impartial we routinely ask those who use our service to say whether they think we have been biased one way or another. At Waltham Forest SEND IASS we follow a national set of Quality Standards for services providing impartial information, advice and support developed by the Network of Information, Advice and Support Services. This helps us to monitor the effectiveness of our service we provide and ensure that it is ‘at arm’s length’ from the local authority. By this we mean that we act, and are seen to act, separately and impartially, with no undue influence or control from either the local authority or the Clinical Commissioning Group in our area. We also publish an Annual Report that includes information on what people tell us about our service.

What information, advice and support do we offer?

We offer accurate, up to date and impartial resources and information about the law on special educational needs and disability. This covers:

  • 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.

We provide information in many ways, including our website, publications, training events and conferences. 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. 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. We may be able to help you find a key worker, or an Independent Supporter or a volunteer who can support you.

When we are not able to help we will do our best to tell you about, or put you in touch with, other groups or organisations that can help. We call this signposting. Is the service confidential? YES! We will not share your information with anyone unless you tell us we can. The only exception to this would be because we have a specific concern about a child’s safety. You can find our Confidentiality Policy on our website.

 We will often work with parents and children or young people together. Sometimes we will work with them separately. When we do this the same confidentiality rules apply.

Where can I find out more?

You can read about impartial information, advice and support in the SEND Code of Practice Chapter 2. The Local Offer includes details of Waltham Forest Local Authority arrangements for providing information, advice and support.

Confidentialty statement

 

What does the law say?

Confidentiality for Children and Young People Policy and Procedures for Information, Advice and Support Services Introduction Under the 2015 SEND Code of Practice, children and young people have a right to confidential and impartial information, advice and support, regardless of their age or mental capacity. Whilst the Code suggests that many children and young people will access services via their parents or carers; services must make it possible for them to access services separately if they wish.

Information, Advice and Support Services staff members must be clear about these rights, as well as the limits to confidentiality, as safeguarding children and young people will always be paramount.

Policy Statement

The following policies and procedures should be used in line with the Lone Working with Children and Young People Policy and Procedures, as well as the Information, Advice and Support Service’s local safeguarding and child protection policies and procedures.

Procedures

Confidentiality practice should always be explained to children and young people from the outset, and communicated in a way that they can understand. Children and young people should understand the meaning of the word ‘confidential’ and the limits of the confidentiality that can be offered. The member of staff should check back on the understanding of the child or young person, before commencing support.

The following should be explained to all children and young people accessing the service:

  • Confidential means that you do not tell other people.
  • Everything that we talk about in our meetings will be kept private and confidential. This means we will not share your information with other people outside the service, including parents, teachers or social workers.
  • We might tell our managers so they can check our work, and we might make notes on our computers so we can remember our discussions.
  • We will keep all of this information safe.
  • The only time we will break confidentiality and tell someone is if;
    • you give us permission by saying it is ok, or,
    • we think that someone might be in danger of being hurt. In that case, we would need to tell someone to make sure that everyone is safe. We would talk to you about this before we do anything.

Sometimes it will be helpful for staff to speak to the child or young person’s support worker, school or college etc., to gather relevant supporting information. As detailed above, if you think that it is in the best interests of the child or young person to share or request information about them, then you need to ask their permission first. This includes sharing information with parents and carers. If you think it would be in the best interests of the child or young person to share information, then discuss this with them. Explore their reasons for wanting to keep the meetings confidential, and try to work on any issues or misunderstandings that may be getting in the way of including their parents or carers. If the child or young person is clear that they do not want their parents or carers to be involved, then this is their right and confidentiality must be maintained (even if you judge to be an unwise decision). A child or young person should only be denied a confidential service in the very rare circumstances that it would not be in their best interests to receive information, advice and support. See the Information, Advice and Support Services Network’s Legal Briefing for further details. If you are concerned that someone is being harmed, or is at risk of being harmed, then you need to discuss this as a matter of urgency with your line manager and follow your local safeguarding procedures. Before you share any information, and if it is safe to do so, then you need to discuss this with the child or young person first to try to seek their permission, prepare them and explain your reasons for taking this action

Complaints procedure

 

We want to hear from you

We want everyone who accesses Waltham Forest SENDIASS to be happy with the service we provide. That's why, if you feel we've let you down, we want to hear from you - no matter how big or small the issue is.

Often we'll be able to put things right, and even if we can't, knowing where we've gone wrong will help us do better in the future.

We promise to deal with every complaint quickly, professionally and confidentially.

Making a formal complaint

There are several ways to make a complaint. You can write a letter explaining what happened and send it to the detials in the contact us section. You can also send us an email or get in contact via telephone.

Your complaint will be investigated by someone who isn't directly involved. If it's upheld, we'll apologise fully - and, if appropriate, let you know what we're doing to put things right.

We aim to respond to every complaint within eight weeks. If it's going to take longer than this, we'll explain why and keep you informed of progress.