Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the prevalence of late concessions by local authorities in Special Education Needs and Disabilities Tribunal cases, and whether she will commission an independent audit of the length of the time children were left without provision in cases where late concessions were made.

The Ministry of Justice publishes information about the number of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Tribunal cases disposed of as well as outcomes, including the number of cases conceded, in the SEND Tribunal Tables.

In the department’s recent ‘SEND Reform: Putting children and young people first’ consultation, we set out proposals to ensure that the new system supports families to resolve any disagreements as early and collaboratively as possible, so children and young people can access the right provision quickly. This includes improving complaints processes and strengthening mediation, reducing the need for an appeal to the Tribunal.

To improve transparency around tribunal outcomes, we also propose to publish an annual SEND tribunal outcomes dashboard, providing anonymised information on the outcomes of tribunal cases by local authority. The department is currently considering all consultation feedback and will publish final proposals in due course.