Customer Charter

We are committed to providing children, young people and their parents and carers with the information, advice and support they need to take a full and equal part in discussions and decisions around Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.

We will:

• be impartial and work at arms-length to the local authority to offer you neutral, unbiased information and advice
• provide our staff with the training they need to respond to questions about SEND
• aim to respond to individual enquiries in five working days
• maintain confidentiality
• listen to your questions and concerns
• give you accurate information and advice about your options, based on what the law says
• not judge, or tell anyone what to do, nor express our own opinion
• always be ready to adapt the way we work, to make sure we meet the needs of people who use our service
• treat our customers with respect, courtesy and friendliness
• aim to develop and coproduce information and training which matches the needs of families
• invite feedback about the service directly and through customer surveys
• share general themes and experiences of families, with the local authority, health providers and community or voluntary organisations, to help inform and influence local policy and practice

You can read more about what we do in our National Minimum Standards.

Inappropriate behaviour towards our staff

Our experience is that people who use the service are friendly, polite and courteous to our staff. We understand that sometimes people will be in very emotional circumstances, and we will make reasonable allowances. We will, however, take seriously any personal attacks, threats or intimidating behaviour or language aimed at our staff, whether in person, on the phone, through written communication, or through social media. We will not tolerate discriminatory language.

We will take action, which might include:

• ending a phone call or other exchange
• encouraging use of our usual routes for giving feedback or making a complaint
• reviewing our practice and anything we can learn from this to improve our service

In some cases, we may decide to:

• refuse to provide any further information, advice and support to someone
• delete a social media post or comment
• log staff distress as a health and safety incident
• report it to the police, if our staff feel threatened or harassed

This policy will be reviewed annually.