At each stage of an Education Health and Care needs assessment, and after annual reviews, the Local Authority has to make a statutory (legal) decision. These decisions are about whether to do an assessment, whether to issue an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP,) what is included in an EHCP and whether or not to change an EHCP after an annual review.

If the LA makes a decision you disagree with, you are entitled to a mediation / disagreement resolution meeting to discuss it or to appeal to the First Tier Tribunal. 

What is mediation?

Mediation meetings are between you and the Local Authority (LA) but are supported by someone independent (a mediator).  These meetings are held either virtually using something like MS Teams or in person, whichever is best for you. Other people can attend too if you want them to, for example someone from your child’s school. The goal is for everyone to be open and honest and to try to reach a solution that everyone is happy with. This is your opportunity to explain what your concerns are, and the LA will explain the decisions that have been made.

If you want to have a mediation meeting, you can contact one of the mediation companies that the LA uses. These are Essential Mediation and The Together Trust. Contact details for these should also be include in any letter from the SEN team about a decision by the LA.

Together Trust: drs@togethertrust.org.uk or telephone 0161 2844807

Essential Mediation: admin@essentialmediation.co.uk or telephone 01908 082 423

In all cases you should continue to talk to your child’s school about the support they are getting and how they are getting on. 

What happens when I contact the mediation company?

Once you have been in touch with the mediation company, they will arrange the meeting on your behalf, you do not have to arrange the meeting. They will contact the LA to tell us that you want a meeting and why, and a meeting will then be arranged for a time convenient to you with someone from the SEN team in the LA. Before the meeting the mediator will get in touch with you to introduce themselves and explain the process of the meeting. 

Do I have to go to mediation?

No, if you do not want to go to mediation you do not have to. If you want to appeal straight to the Tribunal you can do so, but you must still contact a mediation company (Together Trust or Essential Mediation) and ask for a mediation certificate. You need to include a mediation certificate in any appeal that you register with the Tribunal.

What can be discussed at mediation?

You can ask for a mediation meeting if you disagree with the Local Authorities decision not to do an EHC needs assessment, not to issue an EHCP after an assessment, the description of your child’s needs in Section B of an EHCP, the description of the provision in Section F of an EHCP and the school named in Section I of an EHCP.

All mediation meetings are confidential, and no minutes or video recordings are made.

What happens after mediation?

At the end of the meeting, you will either get a mediation agreement or a mediation certificate. A mediation agreement sets out any agreements and timescales from the meeting and what will happen next. If no agreement is reached you can then either take no more action and your child can continue being supported at SEN Support in school, or you can continue with an appeal to the First Tier Tribunal.  If you want to appeal to the Tribunal, you can also request support from SIASS.

How do I appeal to the Tribunal?

If you are unhappy with a decision the LA made, or are still unhappy after a mediation meeting, you can appeal to the First Tier Tribunal (The Tribunal). All the information regarding how to do this and the forms you need are available online on the gov.uk website. If you need additional support to complete an appeal, you can always contact SIASS to help you. When you complete the forms and send them in you must also include a mediation certificate (unless you are only appealing against section I of an EHCP).

What happens after I send in my appeal forms?

Once you have sent your appeal forms in (registered an appeal), the LA is informed that this has happened and gets copies of all the information you have sent in. This can take several weeks. Once the LA has received this, they must indicate to the Tribunal whether or not they will be opposing the appeal, and send in evidence to indicate why. Both you and the LA then have very specific deadlines for sending in any more information you feel is important to your appeal. All these deadlines are outlined in the paperwork that you will get back from the Tribunal. 

What about the hearing?

If your appeal is against an LA decision not to do an EHC needs assessment, there is no hearing for anyone to attend (a paper hearing); the tribunal will make it’s decision based on the information that is sent in by both you and the LA. If your appeal is against an LA decision not to issue an EHCP after an assessment, you can also choose to ask the Tribunal to make this decision based on the information without having to go to a hearing – this is generally a much quicker option than waiting for an actual hearing with a judge. If your appeal is because of what an EHCP says in section B, F or I, you can also request a paper hearing if you want to.

If you want a hearing with a judge and the LA (an oral hearing), there will be a date in the paperwork that the Tribunal send to you and the LA. Because of the number of cases the Tribunal are dealing with, this could be over 50 weeks from when you sent in your appeal. All oral hearings are held by video now, and a week or two before the hearing you will get a letter with times etc and telling you how to join on the day.

At a hearing, there will be you and any representative / witnesses you wish to bring, the Judge and 2 colleagues, the LA representative and any witnesses the LA are bringing. Everyone has an opportunity to talk; you have the chance to explain why you are appealing, and the LA has chance to explain the decision they made. The Judge asks questions of you, the LA and any witnesses who are there to ensure they have all the information they need to be able to make a decision.

After the hearing you will receive a letter from the tribunal outlining what happened at the hearing and what decision they have made. This also tells you what should happen next, and anything specific that the LA has to now do.

The LA representative should keep in touch with you during the whole tribunal process as they always want to work together to try to reach a satisfactory outcome for your child.