Special Educational Needs: Tribunals

(asked on 7th December 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will commence a pilot study as permitted under section 58 of the Children and Families Act 2014 to allow claims to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal to be brought by children in England.


Answered by
Vicky Ford Portrait
Vicky Ford
This question was answered on 15th December 2020

Children are at the centre of the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) system, with person-centred planning and co-production a key part of the Children and Families Act (2014). Local authorities in England are already under a duty to present the child’s views to the tribunal.

The Children and Families Act (2014) included powers to pilot a right for children under 16 to bring an appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (SEND) in England.

A written ministerial statement on 20 December 2017 confirmed that, after careful consideration, the decision had been taken not to pilot these powers, which were automatically repealed in March 2019 as per the provisions of the Children and Families Act (2014). The written ministerial statement can be found at the following link: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2017-12- 20/debates/17122029000015/SpecialEducationalNeedsAndDisability?highlight=special%20educational%20needs#contribution-D73DDB22-DC0A-4A07-94F8-BA43908D6585.

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