Special Educational Needs: Appeals

After a 12-week consultation period, including over 200 engagement events, meetings and roundtables, the department’s ‘SEND reform: putting children and young people first’ consultation has now closed. We are carefully reviewing all responses submitted to the consultation and continue to engage widely on our proposals.

The proposals set out include strengthening local authority-commissioned (but independent) mediation services for decisions about specialist provision, embedding professional standards for mediators, promoting new guidance and sharing best practice.

In our proposals, parents and young people will also be able to appeal to the Tribunal against a decision that states the child or young person has not met the eligibility criteria for one of the new Specialist Provision Packages, and therefore an education, health and care (EHC) plan. Parents and young people will also be able to appeal for a decision from the Tribunal if they believe the package identified for the child or young person would not provide sufficient or suitable support and that they should have a different package.

If parents do not agree with the local authority’s decision about the setting, they will be able to appeal to the Tribunal, who will consider whether the local authority’s decision is reasonable or if to order a reconsideration of the decision. The proposal is that Tribunals will not, however, name the placement for the child. Similarly, parents and young people will be able to appeal against a local authority decision that a child no longer needs the support set out in a package and that an EHC plan should cease.

We know how important it is that we have a robust and fair accountability to ensure every part of the system upholds the high standards we have set out.