Parents and Carers
- SEN Support in Mainstream Schools
- SEN Support in School Meetings
- Choosing a School or College
- Education Health and Care (EHC) Needs Assessments, Plans and Reviews
- Appeals and Mediation
- Attendance and Exclusions
- Transitioning Between Schools or Settings
- Early Years
- SEND Funding
- Transport to School and College
- Preparing For Adulthood (PfA)
- Making a Complaint
- Health Needs and Education
- Elective Home Education (EHE)
- School Admissions
- Disability Discrimination
- Children's Disability Register
Appeals and Mediation
Wherever possible, issues and disagreements should be discussed and resolved at the earliest opportunity. This may be an informal chat with a teacher, social worker or health professional initially. Educational providers, the Local Authority and independent services will have their own published policies and/or guidance for addressing complaints and disagreements and the arrangements described below are not intended to replace these. Please see ‘Making a Complaint’ section.
However, there may be instances where a more formal opportunity, for meeting with those involved in supporting children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities (helped by a neutral third party) is required. This meeting would include the parents and/or carers and may also involve the children and young people themselves.
Disagreement resolution is the process for exploring and addressing issues about any aspect of special educational provision, including health and social care disagreements. The child, or young person, does not have to have (or be in the process of being assessed for) an Education, Health and Care Plan, in order to access the disagreement resolution process. It is intended to provide a quick way to resolve disagreements.
Global Mediation currently provide a disagreement resolution service in the East Midlands. This service is free of charge to families.
Tel: 0800 064 4488 (or from a mobile phone, at local rate on 0208 441 1355).
Email: sen@globalmediation.co.uk
Mediation is a way of resolving problems with the help of an independent person. Mediators are trained to help each side express their views and reach an agreement. SEND Mediation can be used as a type of disagreement resolution for disagreements that can be appealed to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.
The service is voluntary, free for families, and it is confidential.
Mediation can take place around the following:
- The LA’s decision not to carry out an EHC needs assessment
- The LA’s decision not to issue an EHC plan, following assessment
- The content of a finalised EHC Plan
- The LA’s decision not to amend an EHC plan
- The LA’s decision to cease to maintain an EHC plan
- Sometimes, but not always, the LA may agree to discuss Section I (Placement).
Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council provide the details of the mediation provider at times where there is a right of appeal. Currently both Local Authorities use Global Mediation. Parents or young people can contact Global Mediation to ask to engage in this process.
Global Mediation currently provide mediation services in Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire.
This service is free of charge to families.
Tel: 0800 064 4488
Email: sen@globalmediation.co.uk
Any mediation provision must be independent of local authorities in England and/or relevant health commissioners.
Parents and young people who wish to make an appeal to the SEND Tribunal (SENDIST) may only do so after they have contacted Global Mediation and discussed whether mediation might be a suitable way of resolving the disagreement. Once this discussion has happened, the parent can choose whether or not to engage in the mediation process. If they decide against going to mediation, the mediation provider will issue the parent or young person with a mediation certificate, to allow them to put an application into the SEND Tribunal. The only exception to this, is where parents and young people do not have to contact the mediation adviser prior to registering their appeal with the Tribunal, if their appeal is solely about the name of the school, college, or other institution named on the plan, the type of school, college or other institution specified in the plan, or the fact that no school or other institution is named.
When the local authority sends the parent or young person notice of a decision which can be appealed to the Tribunal, it must tell the parent or young person of their right to go to mediation and that they must contact a mediation adviser before registering an appeal with the Tribunal. Parents’ and young people’s right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal is not affected by entering into mediation.
The Local Authority should offer a mediation date, within 30 days of the parent or young person contacting Global Mediation, which should make mediation a time effective way of dealing with disputes.
Although mediation is voluntary for parents and young people, the local authority must attend the mediation.
If the parent or young person is considering registering an appeal and has contacted the mediation adviser, the mediation adviser will provide information on mediation and answer any questions that the parent or young person may have.
The mediation information which is given to parents and young people:
- should be factual and unbiased, and
- should not seek to pressure them into going to mediation.
The mediation adviser should be ready to answer any questions from the parent or young person and explain:
- that mediation is an informal, non-legalistic, accessible and simple disagreement settlement process run by a trained third party and designed to bring two parties together to clarify the issues, and reach a resolution
- that the parent or young person’s use of mediation is voluntary
- the timescales which must be met and how a mediation certificate can be used.
Once the information has been provided it is for the parent or young person to decide whether they want to go to mediation before any appeal they might make to the Tribunal.
Where the parent or young person decides not to go to mediation during or following contact with the mediation adviser, the adviser will issue a certificate within three working days of the parent or young person telling them that they do not want to go to mediation, confirming that information has been provided. The certificate will enable the parent or young person to lodge their appeal with the SEND Tribunal, either within two months of the original decision being sent by the local authority, or within one month of receiving the certificate, whichever is the later.
If the parent or young person decides to proceed with mediation, then the local authority must ensure that a mediation session takes place within 30 days of the mediation adviser informing the local authority that the parent or young person wants to go to mediation, although it may delegate the arrangement of the session to the mediator.
If the parent or young person wants to go to mediation, then the local authority must also take part. If the local authority is unable to arrange mediation in a case which involves a disagreement on a matter which can be appealed to the Tribunal within 30 days, it must tell the mediator. The mediation adviser must then issue a certificate within three days. On receipt of the certificate the parent or young person could decide whether to appeal immediately, or to wait for mediation to take place.
Once mediation is completed about a matter which can be appealed to the Tribunal, the mediation adviser must issue a certificate to the parent or young person within three working days, confirming that it has concluded.
Mediation will not always lead to complete agreement between the parties and if the parent or young person still wants to appeal to the Tribunal following mediation, they must send the certificate to the Tribunal when they register their appeal.
Parents and young people have one month from receiving the certificate to register an appeal with the Tribunal, or two months from the original decision by the local authority, whichever is the later.
Mediation meetings are confidential and without prejudice to the Tribunal process and the Tribunal will disregard any offers or comments made during them.
If a parent, carer, or a young person wants to appeal against a decision made by their Local Authority about an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment or plan (EHCP), they can do this by appealing to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) tribunal. There are no fees for making an appeal.
The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) tribunal is an independent national tribunal, who are overseen by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service. They have the power to order the local authority (Nottingham City or Nottinghamshire County) to:
- carry out an Educational, Health Care (EHC) needs assessment (refusal to assess appeal)
- issue an Educational Health and Care plan (refusal to issue a plan appeal)
- change what is written in an existing EHCP (contents appeal)
- continue a plan that has been stopped (cease to maintain appeal)
- change the school or setting named in the plan (placement or section I appeal).
Parents, carers and young people have two months to register a SEN appeal with the Tribunal, from the date when the local authority sent the notice containing a decision which can be appealed, or one month from the date of a certificate which has been issued following mediation or the parent or young person being given mediation information, whichever is the later.
In some cases parents and young people will not register the appeal within the two-month limit. Where it is fair and just to do so, the Tribunal has the power to use its discretion to accept appeals outside the two-month time limit. You must set out in writing the reasons for the delay and why you think the appeal would succeed if time for making the appeal is extended. If you do not do so, the papers will be returned to you without being registered or seen by a tribunal judge.
If you do not have a mediation certificate, you must set out in writing the reasons why you have not been able to get one. If you do not give an explanation, the papers will be returned to you without being registered or seen by a tribunal judge, with the exception of Section I (Placement) appeals only.
If you have an EHCP and cannot appeal, then you could consider asking for an early review of the EHC Plan.
The Tribunal will not take account of the fact that mediation has taken place, or has not been taken up, nor will it take into account the outcome of any mediation. Parents and young people will not be disadvantaged at the Tribunal if they have chosen not to go to mediation.
It is the Tribunal’s aim to ensure that a parent or young person should not need to engage legal representation when appealing a decision. Parents and young people may find it helpful to have support from a voluntary organisation or friend at a hearing.
Young people can register an appeal in their name, but can also have their parents’ help and support if needed.
The Tribunal does not hear appeals about Personal Budgets, but will hear appeals about the special educational provision to which a Personal Budget may apply.
The right to appeal a refusal of an EHC needs assessment will be triggered only where the local authority has not carried out an assessment in the previous six months.
When the parent or young person is appealing about a decision to cease to maintain the EHC plan, the local authority has to maintain the plan until the Tribunal’s decision is made.
Information, guidance and application forms can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/special-educational-needs-and-disability-tribunal-forms
When appealing to the SEND Tribunal around EHC Plan matters, the Tribunal require the following documents:
- a signed and dated letter from the Local Authority giving you the right of appeal to HM Courts & Tribunals Service (Local Authority decision letter)
- a copy of the signed mediation certificate or confirmation that your appeal is about the school/college/institution or type of school/college/institution only whereby a mediation certificate is not necessary
- your reasons for making the appeal (see section 2 of the appeal form)
- a copy of your child’s EHC plan and all the documents listed in Part K (where a plan has been issued)
- the appeal application form that has been signed and dated.
The reasons on the appeal application do not have to be lengthy or written in legal language, but they should explain why the appellant disagrees with the decision.
Once the appeal is registered with the SEND Tribunal, the local authority will be sent notification of the appeal and will be given a date by which they must respond. Both the parent or young person and the Local Authority will be issued with ‘Tribunal directions’ that are a list of key dates that must be met by the parent and/or Local Authority. It is especially important that you take note of these dates, as you may need to provide any updated evidence or information about witnesses to the Tribunal. They may also want to invite you to a Case Review, where you speak to a judge (before the hearing) to assess which stage the case is at and which matters remain unresolved.
The parties will also be told of the approximate hearing date. Appeals are heard by a judge and a panel of Tribunal members who have been appointed because of their knowledge and experience of children and young people with SEN or disabilities.
The local authority will provide a bundle of papers for each of the panel members and the parent, including any document requested by the parent, ahead of mediation.
SEND Local Offer
The Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire County Council SEND Local Offers are a great resource for finding events, support and activities in your area.
City Council County Council