The purpose of the local offer is to enable parents and young people to see more clearly what services are available in their area and how to access them. The offer will include provision from birth to 25, across education, health and social care and should be developed in conjunction with children and young people, parents and carers, and local services, including schools, colleges, health and social care agencies’. The Council for Disabled Children (2014 p5)

Council for Disabled Children (2014) has noted that the local offer has the potential to

• provide clarity and confidence for parents;
• support earlier intervention;
• reduce the need for assessment: a number of local authorities make a minimum level of short breaks provision readily available, and without costly assessment processes. This meets the needs of many families;
• identify need and gaps in provision;
• provide an evidence base for improving progress and securing better outcomes, at school and local level.

Under the provision of The Children and Families Act (2013) the purpose of the local offer will allow parents to have as much information about services that are available and therefore give more choice and more control over what support is right for their child. This local offer will impact on the provisions made within schools for students covered by the EA whereby all agencies, parents and schools will have to be more involved in the process of support.

Conclusion and Recommendations.

The aim of this dissertation was to look at the effects of the Equality Act 2010 on SEN students in mainstream schools. Evidence available from the Department for Education Green Paper, Support and Aspiration, in January 2010 indicate that, 21% of the school population were identified as having SEN:11.4% receiving School Action provision, approximately 916,000 pupils; 6.2% receiving School Action Plus provision, approximately 496,000 pupils; and 2.7% of the school population or 221,000 pupils had a statement of SEN. This SEN grouping will include those students identified and protected by the EA.