Local Offer

Use this page to learn about the Local Offer for Care Experienced young people in Bath and North East Somerset.

You can call our team on 01225 395200 or email us at care_experiencedteam@bathnes.gov.uk

Our priority is for every young person to: 

• Know their rights and entitlements
• Feel cared for, loved, understood and supported
• Know that just because you are leaving or have left care, our support does not stop

It is important that you know what to expect as a care-experienced young person and this document sets out our offer to you.

Select a topic from the list below to learn more:

Who is care-experienced

The term 'care-experienced' refers to someone who, during their childhood, was looked after away from their parent(s). 

There are different things you have a right to based on legal definitions, relating to your care experience. The table below helps you understand which legal definition you fit under and what this means for you:

Legal definition

Type	Description	Entitlement
Eligible	You're aged 16 or 17 You will still be in care and will have been in care for at least 13 weeks after your 14th birthday.	You will continue to receive social care support and care up to age 18 as a looked-after young person, wherever you are living until you leave care.  You will have a Social Worker, a Needs Assessment, and a Pathway Plan, and a personal advisor will be allocated in advance of you turning 18 in preparation for leaving care. This offer will be available to you post-18.
Relevant	You're aged 16 or 17 You will no longer be in care but you were in care for at least 13 weeks with some time on or after your 16th birthday.  NOTE: If you return home to your family successfully for at least 6 months, you may cease to be a ‘relevant’ care leaver and will be considered a ‘qualifying’ care leaver.	You will have a personal advisor; your Pathway Plan will be reviewed regularly; you will have regular visits/we will be in touch.  You will receive assistance (financial) with education, employment, training, housing, skills, finances, relationships, and health.
Former relevant	You will be age 18 – 25 (NOTE: If you are between 21 – 25 and have specific support needs, you will be offered a service which you will need to ‘opt in’ to).  You will have left care but were previously an ‘eligible’ or ‘relevant’ care leaver.	You will have a personal advisor; your Pathway Plan will be reviewed regularly; you will have regular visits/we will be in touch.  You will receive assistance (financial) with education, employment, training, housing, skills, finance, relationships, and health.
Qualifying	You will be aged 18-25. You spent some time in care after your 16th birthday. You spent less than 13 weeks in care since 14th birthday. You were a child in care immediately before you were made subject to a Special Guardianship Order (SGO) or privately fostered.	We will stay in touch with you. You can receive advice and assistance when you need it.   You will not automatically be allocated a Personal Advisor (PA); however we will have PA's available to support you if required.  You may be entitled to financial support around accommodation during university holidays if you live away from home up to age 25.

Who will be involved

Our Care Experienced Team will be the people you will have most contact with. The whole of the council have shared responsibility as your corporate parent. 

Social Worker 

Before turning 18 you will have a Social Worker in the Children in Care Team. 

Your Social Worker will complete a Needs Assessment and a Pathway Plan (from 16 years of age), which will highlight all of the options available to you and the support you may need to develop your skills over the coming couple of years in preparation for turning 18. Your Pathway Plan should be reviewed at least every 6 months to make sure your goals and actions are still right for you, and progress is being made.

Personal Advisor (PA)

You will be introduced to your Personal Advisor before turning 18 so you can get to know one another, and they will support you after you turn 18. 

Your Personal Advisor will stay in touch and see you regularly to support you around all areas of your life.

What you need to do

• Share your views and opinions about what is going on for you and what matters to you 
• Be there when we visit and respond to calls
• Be open to other support and taking on advice and guidance

Your identity

Our identity and sense of belonging is shaped by our background and experiences in life. Having a clear and strong sense of identity and belonging helps us feel safe, confident, and comfortable in being ourselves. 

Your care experience is a significant part of who you are and your identity. We will always promote equality for you across different aspects of your identity. 

Find out more about how we will support you and your identity 

• We will encourage you, and care for you, and celebrate when you reach your goals and aspirations that are most important to you.  
• We will make sure you are asked about the important decisions which affect your life.  
• We can help you to understand your journey through and after care and can offer life story work to you. 
• We will make sure you have your identification (ID) documents: we will pay for your first adult passport, provisional driving license and make sure you have a birth certificate and National Insurance Number. We will also ensure you have a bank account open.  
• If you are seeking asylum, we will support you through this process. When granted asylum we will ensure you are set up and have an evisa.   
• We will support you to change your name by deed poll if you wish.    
• You will be invited to join our Care Experience Council. This is run by Off The Record and is a space to join other care-experienced young people to influence changes across the service.  
• You have access to independent advocacy (provided by Off the Record). We can help you to get in touch with them or you can contact them yourself. 
• We want to hear from you about the service and how we can be better. If you would like to contribute you can become a Young Ambassador. Please let you PA know or email Care_ExperiencedTeam@bathnes.gov.uk

Access to your records

• We can support you to access your records and have these in a way that feels best for you.
• We can support you to read these if you want us to at any point. 
• You request you records by emailing access_torecords@bathnes.gov.uk

Compliments and complaints

• If you would like to provide feedback, which may be a compliment or a complaint, then you can contact our B&NES team about this. Your feedback is important to us.
• You can do this by emailing complaints_cypandadults@bathnes.gov.uk

We want to hear from you about the service and how we can be better. If you would like to contribute you can become a Young Ambassador. If you would like to provide feedback, which may be a compliment or a compliant, then you can contact our team about this.