Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she has had with local authorities on reducing the time taken to appeal an EHCP decision.

Whilst most education, health and care plans and assessments are agreed without recourse to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) Tribunal, some families struggle to get the support they need when they need it.

The department continues to work across government, with local authorities and the Tribunal to understand why appeals may take a long time to be resolved and what support we can give local authorities to improve decision-making. As an initial step, last year we jointly delivered eight training sessions on ‘SEND and the law’ for local authority SEND caseworkers to improve their knowledge of the law and help ensure that decisions are legally compliant.

The Tribunal is taking steps to reduce the time that families wait for a decision on their appeal. It has recruited and trained over 70 new judges who are now hearing appeals. It has also expanded the remit of Judicial Alternative Dispute Resolution (JDAR) to determine all ‘Section I (name of school)’ appeals and recently announced a rule change to allow for judicial discretion to determine whether more appeals can be heard on paper. The use of JDAR and paper hearings reduces the need for full oral hearings and therefore the time families wait for decisions.