The Ironman event takes place this Sunday 14 September in Dorchester
and Weymouth. As some roads and car parks will close there will be
delays, please check
your route before travelling. Weymouth Recycling Centre will not
be open and access to Dorchester Recycling Centre will be disrupted.
Children and Families Charter and Service Standards in SEND for those requesting or with an Education Care and Health Plan
Children and Families Charter and Service Standards in SEND for those requesting or with an Education Care and Health Plan
At the heart of our SEND children and families customer charter is our commitment to improving the quality of life of our SEND children, young people and families. We strive to get it right first time, every time.
We believe that our children and families have the right to know what level of service they can expect from us all the time - even when we fall short of the very high standards, we have set ourselves.
Our staff are here to support you and acknowledge that this can be a difficult and anxious time for you, we aim to work in collaboration with you and ask that respect is given to both parties. As with all public services, abusive language and behaviour will not be accepted and could result in ending a call, see our Managing Unreasonable Behaviour Protocol.
Our SEND Service is committed to:
improving the speed of response in handling enquiries from parents, young people, carers and families and all associated education settings or providers
providing responsive and reliable services
providing a consistent, coordinated, and proactive service
treating our children, young people, parents and carers with respect, courtesy, and friendliness, being receptive to customer feedback
providing systems for those accessing SEND services to provide feedback easily, through customer surveys, focus groups, feedback, consultations, and improved complaint handling
ensuring that our employees are skilled and able to provide high quality services
working with other council departments and organisations to achieve a joined-up and seamless approach to service provision
Service standards
Our SEND teams in Dorset support over 3,200 children and their families. On average, a SEND Provision Lead has around 200 children on their caseloads. This means that there may be times when Provision Leads are unable to respond within a working day due to work commitments supporting children in the County, for example, attendance at Annual Reviews and associated deadlines. The service standards below have been designed to consider the requirements of the role and our ability to support our communities so that we are transparent with you regarding our service standards.
Our SEND Teams Explained
The following roles exist in each of our localities in Dorset. You and your family or carers will be served by one of our locality teams, these are illustrated in the map below.
Role
Description
Team Manager
The Team Manager is responsible for the SEND Statutory Processes and manages the team in each locality, ensuring that statutory timescales are set.
Provision Lead
Each locality has a number of Provision Leads. These are the Officers who will support you with an Education, Health and Care Needs Assessment or your Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) if you or your child has one.
Caseworkers
Each locality has a Caseworker, and they provide support to the Provision leads in administering and organising events relating to your assessment or EHCP.
Family Worker
Our Family Workers provide direct family support with families working towards agreed goals between the family and the Family Worker.
every Provision Lead has a telephone number with a messaging facility. We expect our Provision Leads to respond to a phone call within 3 working days
when answering the telephone, staff will clearly state their name
the Provision Lead who answers your call will aim to answer your enquiry there and then. If we cannot answer your enquiry, we will take information and commit to appropriate next steps which are time bounded and explained to you
when returning your calls, staff will clearly state their full name, their role and their reason for calling
when returning your calls, the caller identification to mobiles may show as 'withheld' and a message will be left where possible if you are unavailable
our Provision Leads hours are generally between 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday. Our service standard is that we will not contact you outside of this time, equally our Provision Leads’ numbers are only in use during these hours
Contacting us by email:
we aim to respond to all emails received by our Provision Leads and SEND Team Managers within 3 working days
if you receive an 'out of office' notification to your email advising that the staff member is unavailable; the notification will include contact details for urgent enquiries and a date when the staff member will be available to reply
if your Provision Lead is on long term absence their emails will be forwarded to identified colleague in the SEND teams
if your Provision Lead moves role you will receive an email which states that the individual has left and an onward contact point for your use. Email boxes for staff who have left the organisation are reviewed for 90 days and then email accounts are closed
Contacting us by letter:
if you contact us by letter, we will try to respond fully within ten working days unless, for example, your query is complex or involves several service areas
in this case, we will acknowledge your letter within seven working days of receipt and let you know who is looking after your query, what action we are taking, and when a reply can be expected
We look forward to receiving compliments on our services and the support we give you. Send these to your Provision Lead as we can share these across the teams and learn from when we get things right for the children and families we serve.
Informal complaints
If you are unhappy with the support you are receiving, please email directly to your Provision Lead and explain your concerns. Often matters can be addressed locally and prevent the need for a formal complaint to the council. If you feel that your complaint or concern has not been addressed, please share why and our team will work with you to resolve any issues.
Formal complaints
We aim to respond to formal corporate complaints within 20 working days. If we need longer, we will tell you why. We will also let you know who is dealing with your complaint and when we will reply. Find out more about raising a formal complaint.
we will supply information requested in Freedom of Information requests within 20 working days, except in exceptional circumstances
in such circumstances, we will contact you to let you know why it is going to take longer than 20 days to collate the information requested, or if there are reasons why it is not appropriate to release all the information requested
we will explain why we are not releasing the information, if that is the case, and explain the appeal process
Subject Access Requests
A subject access request (SAR) can be used by an individual to access personal data that is held about them, or someone they have authority to act on behalf of, by an organisation. Get more advice from our subject access request - guidance for requester page
How do I submit a SAR?
If you wish to request personal information that is held about you, you will need to provide us with the following:
your contact details
a description of the information you seek
proof of your identity (copy of two of the following - passport, driving licence or birth certificate). This is so we can be reasonably certain that we only provide personal information to the individual who is entitled to receive it. Should you be unable to provide the above examples of identity, there are other options available (e.g., utility bills)
a SAR will only be valid if it contains all the information we need and we have received proof of your identity
We cannot insist that you use this SAR form, but it does include all the information that will help us deal with your request efficiently. If you choose not to use the SAR form, you should provide in writing (email or letter), all the information that the SAR form asks for and send it to our Data Protection Officer.
Translation and interpretation
If English is not your first language and you need some help in understanding any of the services the council delivers, we offer telephone or face-to-face language interpretation services. Please link with your Provision Lead who can help you in this regard.