How do we work with a SENDIASS adviser supporting a family?

Know whose side the adviser is on

SENDIASS is the local SEND Information, Advice and Support Service that every council has to fund (Children and Families Act 2014, s.32). It is free, impartial and confidential, and it runs at arm’s length from the local authority so its advice comes from SEND law, not from local policy (SEND Code of Practice 2015, paras 2.5 and 2.8). The adviser supports the family, not your school and not the council. Treat the SENDIASS adviser as the family’s impartial, law-based supporter: invite them to meetings the family wants, engage with the points they raise, and share pupil information only with the family’s explicit consent. Get that framing right and the rest follows.

Welcome them in, and confirm who is coming

When a family asks for the adviser to attend an annual review, a SEN support meeting or a mediation, treat that as a routine, helpful request. The Code expects these services to support families in attending meetings, contributing to assessments and reviews, and taking part in decisions (para 2.19). Confirm in advance who will be in the room, share the agenda and any reports in good time, and make sure the family has had a real chance to prepare with the adviser. An adviser who has read the paperwork the week before makes the meeting shorter and calmer, not longer.

Do not share information without the family’s consent

Here is the line schools most often get wrong: the adviser works on the family’s behalf and is bound by confidentiality, so they are not automatically entitled to a pupil’s information. Do not send the adviser records, reports or correspondence, and do not discuss the child with them, unless the family has given explicit consent. SENDIASS applies the same rule in reverse and will not share what the family has told them without the family’s say-so (SENDIASS confidentiality and impartiality). The simple fix is to ask the family to put their consent in writing, naming the adviser and saying what they may receive.

Engage with the substance, not the messenger

The second mistake is treating the adviser’s presence as a threat. Every adviser completes legal training so their points rest on legislation rather than local custom (Minimum Standards for IAS Services, 2018). So when they raise a duty in the SEND Code or a right the family holds, answer the point on its merits. Keep clear records, share documents in good time, and where you genuinely disagree, use the normal disagreement-resolution routes the Code sets out, including mediation and, if it comes to it, the SEND Tribunal. SENDIASS also helps families when things go wrong, which is part of the same impartial role.

One reform note for planning. The SEND system is under live consultation (Schools White Paper, February 2026, and the Education for All Bill), but no statutory changes are expected before September 2030 and the SENDIASS duty is unaffected for now.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.