Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the (a) number and (b) outcome of appeals against decisions by local authorities on special educational needs, and their preceding education health and care plans, there were (i) in each local authority area and (ii) for each condition in each of the last five years; and what the cost to the public purse was of such appeals in that same period.

Due to the volume of data required to answer the question in respect of appeals against special education needs decisions made by local authorities, I will arrange for this information, broken down by local authority, to be placed in the Library of the House.

Information on the cost to the public purse for these appeals prior to the 2015/16 Financial Year is not available at this time, but I can confirm that the total cost of the operation of the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) (FtT SEND) was:

In 2015/16 - £2,983,418

In 2016/17 - £3,347,986

In 2017/18 - £4,008,647