Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that appeals for education, health and care plans for SEND children reaching tribunal are processed swiftly.

We acknowledge that more needs to be done to reduce the time parents and young people have to wait to have their appeals heard and determined in the First-tier Tribunal (SEND). We are continuing to invest in the recruitment of up to 1,000 judges and tribunal members across all jurisdictions this year, including specific recruitment for the FTT, including SEND, which will increase judicial capacity.

Alongside this, we are supporting the Tribunal Procedure Committee’s consultation on allowing suitable, lower complexity cases to be determined on the papers—subject to judicial discretion and the option to opt-out—so that hearing time is reserved for the most complex matters. A judicial alternative dispute resolution pilot is also helping to resolve appropriate disputes earlier.

The pressures facing the Tribunal are indicative of wider pressures in the SEND system.  We are working with the Department for Education in the longer term to reduce the demands on the tribunal so that the outstanding caseload, and the time taken for the tribunal to determine appeals, is reduced.