Responsibility of your local council
The special educational needs and disability (SEND) tribunal extended powers puts responsibility on local council SEND teams to:
- inform parents and young people of their new rights through decision letters and the Local Offer
- provide evidence to the tribunal from health and social care bodies responding to issues raised with a time frame set by the tribunal, seeking permission to bring additional witnesses to the hearing as necessary.
Responsibility of health and social care commissioners
The trial also puts responsibilities on health and social care commissioners to:
- respond to any request for information and evidence with the time frame set by the tribunal
- send a witness to attend the hearing if needed
- respond to parents and young people and the local council SEND team within 5 weeks of a recommendation being made and setting out the steps they have decided to take or give reasons why they're not following the recommendation.
Requesting a health and social care recommendation
To appeal a decision against a local council decision on any grounds, you should follow the normal process for bringing an appeal to a tribunal.
Find advice on SEND appeals to the tribunal on GOV.UK.
Mediation and the trial
Before registering an appeal with the tribunal, you need to contact a mediation adviser within 2 months of the local council decision you wish to appeal. You should consider if mediation can resolve the disagreement with the local council. To appeal about the school or other institution named in the EHC (education, health and care) plan, you do not need to contact a mediation adviser.
You can attend mediation about the health and social care aspects of an EHC plan, but this is not necessary. You can request recommendations about health and social care issues without having to receive mediation advice or attend mediation about those issues. This can only happen if there is also an education issue you are appealing.
Once a mediation adviser has been contacted or you have taken part in mediation, you will receive a certificate. This is needed if you are unhappy and wish to progress with an appeal to the tribunal. A decision will be made within 2 months of a decision about an appeal, or one month after a mediation certificate is issued, whichever is later.
If mediation resolves educational issues, you will not be able to appeal any health and social care of the EHC plan. Mediation is an opportunity to resolve disagreements and can be completed quicker than an appeal. It does not affect your right to make an educational appeal. Some aspects of a disagreement can be appealed, even when other aspects have been resolved.