Latest News - November 2008

New Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal Regulations

Significant changes have made been to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal for deciding special needs cases. This affects all appeals lodged after 3 November 2008. 

The new tribunal is to be known as SEND, although it will hear the same range of cases as before. In addition, the panel members will remain the same. 

The first point to make is that there have been some very worrying and inaccurate stories about the impact of these changes, many of which came into being when early drafts of the proposed rules were released.

We are glad to say that many of the most contentious provisions have now been dropped (in practice, if not in the rules) and we doubt that most parents who have legal representation will notice much difference in the system in the short term.

However, there are some definite changes to the procedures which will be used and it is not entirely clear yet what all of these are.

The time for lodging an appeal has been shortened slightly (to one day less than two months) and there will no longer be a set period for submitting further evidence after an appeal has been lodged. 

In addition, and more worryingly for many parents, the tribunal has new case management powers under which it will decide what evidence can be admitted to the hearing and which witnesses can attend. 

The tribunal may simply issue a standard set of instructions on the procedure for the hearing, in much the same way as it has in the past. However, in more complex cases, there may be a hearing on the telephone where both the parents and local education authorities (LEAs) will set out their arguments on the way in which the hearing should be run, and the tribunal will then decide.

While we welcome this in some ways, we think it may make things more difficult for parents who do not have legal representatives and may find it hard to ensure the right procedures are put in place when discussing this on the telephone with LEAs, who are more knowledgeable about the system. 

In addition, it is likely that both parents and LEAs will be able to bring a greater number of witnesses to the hearing. This may also cause problems for many parents who feel they are outnumbered. 

We are providing training for schools, independent experts and parent groups on the changes, so that we can make sure that the new system develops properly and is moulded to meet the needs of parents as well as LEAs.

We can advise you how best to present your case under the new system. We are members of the SEND User Group, which will have an important role to play in developing the new rules. As active members of this group, we will be making sure that the interests of children and their parents or carers remain the focus of the system.

To find out more about how we can help you, please contact Maxwell Gillott Solicitors.