SEND Local Offer - SEND Strategies and Policies

Welcome to our strategy and policy hub, your destination for all the key information about how we support children and young people with Special Education Needs and Disabilities. Here you will find our statutory policies that shape the way we deliver inclusive education and services.

Local Offer Statutory Duty

The Children and Families Act 2014 places a duty on every local authority to publish a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Local Offer, setting out in one place information about services and support available for children and young people in their area who have special educational needs and or disabilities, including those who do not have Education, Health and Care plans. Local authorities and their partner bodies and agencies must co-operate with each other in its development and review.

The Local Offer has two key purposes:

to provide clear, comprehensive, accessible and up-to-date information about the available provision and how to access it
to make provision more responsive to local needs and aspirations by directly involving children, young people, parents, carers and service providers in its development and review

Local authorities must publish comments about their Local Offer received from or on behalf of children with special educational needs or disabilities and their parents and young people with special educational needs or disabilities.

Governance and review

The Local Offer is reviewed every 3 to 6 months by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council, in partnership with families, young people and local professionals. The Local Offer working group aims to meet quarterly and acts as a multi-agency oversight to improve accuracy and user experience.

How to update Local Offer

The Local Offer change request form can help to make sure that any changes requested on the content pages of the Local Offer are thoroughly and smoothly implemented.

The change request form is for professionals inside and outside the SEND service from people who already have or want their content on the Local Offer. The form is received and triaged to produce a red, amber, green (RAG) rating that determines when this work should be completed. To update and amend content on the Local Offer website, the Local Offer change request form supports the prioritisation of work and manage people's expectations around timescale of changes and updates to the Local Offer website.

If you are a member of the public or a parent or carer and have any comments or feedback on the Local Offer, email localoffer@stockton.gov.uk

SEND Reform Consultation 2026

The Government is consulting on the national SEND and Alternative Provision (AP) Reform White Paper and we want to ensure the voice of Stockton-on-Tees is strongly represented.

Have your say in the SEND Reform consultation.

SEND Local Offer Annual Report

The Stockton-on-Tees SEND Local Offer annual report highlights the key achievements for 2025 to 2026 and the next steps for improvement in 2026.

Read the SEND Local Offer Annual Report 2025 to 2026.

SEND and Alternative Provision Strategy

Our SEND and Alternative Provision Strategy outlines our vision and priorities from 2025 to 2030.

If you would like an Easy Read version of the SEND and Alternative Provision Strategy, email localoffer@stockton.gov.uk

Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) and Special Educational Needs (SEN) Units

The Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) and Special Educational Needs (SEN) Units policy is designed to give information to parents, carers and school professionals about Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) and SEND Units, which are educational provisions within Stockton-on-Tees mainstream schools.

Read the Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) and SEN Units Policy 2025.

Quality Assurance Protocol for Specialist and Alternative Provisions

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council is committed to ensuring high-quality education for all children and young people with Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans and those who are vulnerable.

Read the Quality Assurance Protocol for Specialist and Alternative Provisions (September 2025)

Quality Assurance Protocol

This Quality Assurance (QA) Framework sets out how the Stockton‑on‑Tees Area SEND Partnership assures itself of the quality, consistency and impact of Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) and the professional advice that underpins them.

Read the Quality Assurance Framework for Education, Health and Care Plans.

Local Inclusion Support Offer

The Local Inclusion Support Offer (LISO) is a model designed to strengthen inclusive practice in mainstream schools, colleges and settings through early identification, targeted support and workforce development.

Read the Local Inclusion Support Offer. (PDF, 874 KB)

Fair Access Policy

The Fair Access Policy ensures that children and young people in Stockton-on-Tees who do not have a school place, especially those facing challenges, are supported to return to education quickly and fairly.

View a summary of the Fair Access Policy 2025 to 2026

Co-production Charter

This charter sets out the principles that we believe support true co-production and information about our other methods of working together, including co-design, collaboration and communication.

Read the Co-production Charter.

Stockton-on-Tees SEND Market Position Statement

Our Market Position Statement is part of our bigger work to make things better for children with SEND.

View the Market Position Statement 2025 to 2026.

Annual review of an Education, Health and Care Plan

This guidance supports parents, carers, educational settings and professionals in understanding and navigating the annual review process for Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).

Read guidance for the annual review process for Education, Health and Care Plans.

Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) process

The EOTAS provision within Stockton-on-Tees is a structured educational pathway designed to support children of compulsory school age who are not currently on the roll of a mainstream or special school.

Read the Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) process.

Inclusive Education Framework

The Stockton-on-Tees Inclusive Education Framework (IEF) sets out a shared vision for delivering inclusive, high-quality mainstream education for all children and young people.

The Inclusive Education Framework has been co-produced with partners across the borough (including parents, schools and health partners).

The framework establishes clear and consistent expectations for the support available in all mainstream settings as part of a graduated response to meeting need.

The framework is split into educational stages and has an introductory section which explains statutory duties, quality first teaching and shared language. Each educational stage is split into the four broad areas of need:

cognition and learning
communication and interaction
social, emotional, and mental health
sensory and physical needs

Each stage outlines specific strategies, resources and interventions to support presenting needs at a universal, targeted and individualised levels. It ensures that children, young people, and their families can expect the same level of inclusive provision, regardless of where they live or are educated.

For more information about the development of the Inclusive Education Framework, please contact the SEND team by email at sensection@stockton.gov.uk.

SEND Projects

Delivering better value

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council are one of 55 Local Authorities who secured funding to participate in an exciting and forward-thinking project dedicated to improving outcomes for children and young people with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) in Stockton-on-Tees.

Visit the Professionals section of the Local Offer to learn more about the Delivering Better Value project.