Salford Information, Advice and Support Service (SIASS)

We offer impartial information, advice and support to children, young people and parents/carers about special educational needs and disability (SEND), including matters relating to health and social care. We have a role in ensuring your views are heard, understood and respected.

We're a free, dedicated, confidential and impartial service offering a single point of regular and consistent contact. We can explain how special educational needs are identified and assessed, who you should talk to, and we can inform you of your rights and responsibilities.

Either by phone, email or in person, we can give you:

Information on:

• the law on special educational needs and disability (SEND)
• statements and Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP)
• personalisation and personal budgets
• the Local Offer
• managing mediation, appeals to the First-Tier Tribunal (SEN and Disability), exclusions and complaints

Advice about:

• SEN support in mainstream schools and post-16 institutions
• special schools and other SEN education
• gathering, understanding and interpreting information and applying it to your own situation
• where to go for additional support locally or nationally, including voluntary services
• what to do when things go wrong

Support with:

• arranging or attending meetings with school, college, the local authority, health/social services or other agencies
• writing letters and reports
• annual reviews of statements and Education Health and Care Plans
• Salford City Council's processes for resolving disagreements and its complaints procedures

We also host regular drop-ins each week at different Gateway centres across the city and also online, where you can speak directly with one of our team. We advertise these via e-mail and on our Facebook. E-mail SIASS@salford.gov.uk to request these details.

Follow our page on Facebook here for all the updates relating to SIASS and lots of other activities within Salford.

Age Range(s)

0 - 25

Who to contact

Contact Name: Salford Information, Advice and Support Service (SIASS)
Contact Position: There is an answerphone where messages are picked up every day. We are usually out and about helping families so we rarely answer the phone but please do leave a message.
Telephone: 0161 778 0343 0161 778 0343
0161 778 0349 0161 778 0349; email
Email: SIASS@salford.gov.uk
Website: Link to referral form

Where to go

Name

Salford City Council

Address

Unity House
Chorley Road
Swinton
Greater Manchester

Postcode

M27 5AW

Notes

SIASS are based at Unity House, but we work in a hybrid way. This means SIASS Officers are rarely in the office, and instead work from home, from the Gateway centres or other community spaces in the City, or attend meetings in schools, colleges, etc.

Please telephone us or ring us to get in touch.

Time / Date Details

When is it on: Monday - Friday 9.00am - 5.00pm
Time of day: Afternoon
Morning
Session Information: Due to staff working both from home and in the office it is better to e-mail where possible to get a quick response
SIASS work flexibly, so sometimes we may work in the evenings or at weekends.

Availability

Referral required

Yes

Referral Details

All new referrals to the service should go through our online referral form. This will allow us to triage it and refer it to the relevant person on the team.

Please note: do not send safeguarding/child protection information to us.

The Bridge Partnership can be contacted by telephone on 0161 603 4500 from 8.30am to 4.30pm. If you need to speak to somebody about your referral of concern outside these hours, please call the Emergency Duty Team on 0161 794 8888.

You can also e-mail the service at: SIASS@salford.gov.uk

Costs

Table of costs

Table of costs
Amount	Cost Type
Free

Related links: SIASS Facebook Page
Salford Parent Carer Forum

Local Offer

Description: SIASS is Salford's statutory SENDIAS service. We provide free, confidential and impartial information, advice and support to children, young people and their families who may have or do have SEND, in relation to education, health and social care. This includes providing direct support to those young people aged 16 years and above. Our age range is from 0-25 years old.
Contact Name: Steven Booth (SIASS Manager)
Contact Telephone: 0161 778 0346
Contact Email: SIASS@salford.gov.uk
Local Offer Age Bands: Transitions to Adulthood - Push to second line (16+)
Early Years (0-4 years)
Primary (4-10 years)
Secondary (11-16 years)
Needs Level: Medium; High
SEN Provision Type: Targeted; Specialist