What is the Leeds Local Offer?
The Leeds Local Offer is a resource for children and young people with special educational needs and disability (SEND) aged 0 to 25 and their families. It is also a resource to help practitioners understand the range of services and provision in Leeds, and nationally available sources of information.
The aim of the Leeds Local Offer is to improve choice and transparency for families. It is not just a directory of services; it also provides a mechanism for gathering feedback from children, young people and their families that can drive and influence service improvement.
The Leeds Local Offer has information on education, health, social care, transport, childcare and leisure services and can be found at www.leedslocaloffer.org.uk .
Why do we have a local offer?
The SEND Code of Practice requires us to set out a local offer of services. This is a duty to provide information on what services are available.
The SEND Code of Practice sets out how the local authority and partners should work together to review and commission services. The local offer provides details of those services commissioned by this joint planning and review.
What do we have in Leeds?
The Leeds Local Offer is a website that incorporates a search facility that is dynamic, which draws information from multiple sources and takes people directly to the service or provision page required.
With the size of Leeds and the range of services and information available, the search engine function enables us to link to a considerable amount of specific and up to date content.
If families require support with using the Leeds Local Offer or have any queries they can email LLO@leeds.gov.uk.
Families can also join the Leeds Local Offer facebook group . The facebook group is a way for us to communicate changes to services and opportunities for families in Leeds.
What kind of information is on the Leeds Local Offer and when would it be used?
We continually work with children, young people and their families to develop and review the Leeds Local Offer. This supports us to ensure the right type of information is included.
You might use the Leeds Local Offer to:
- find information about schools in Leeds
- search for services providing fun activities in a family’s community
- starting to think about options post-16
- find out about Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)
- search for support available from Social Care
- find out what is provided by our health services in Leeds
What should practitioners do?
Practitioners should visit the Leeds Local Offer website and familiarise themselves with how to use it. Then they should share details about the offer with:
- children and young people with SEND and their families
- colleagues and practitioners from partner agencies who work with them
Practitioners can join the Leeds Local Offer Network by emailing LLO@leeds.gov.uk. By joining the network, practitioners will receive a bi-monthly ebulletin that highlights updates to the Local Offer, service developments, consultations and resources available to them.
Key contacts and for more information
If you have any feedback from using the Leeds Local Offer or any suggestions for additional content please email LLO@leeds.gov.uk
You can read the SEND Code of Practice for children and young people aged 0 to 25 years. This is statutory guidance for organisations working with and supporting children and young people who have SEND.
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