SEND Mediation & Appeal Information

Welcome to Collis Mediation Ltd

When the local authority (LA) makes statutory education, health, and social care (EHC) decisions, parents, young people and those with parental responsibility are provided with rights of appeal.

Our role is to provide you with information about your options when appealing so you can make informed decisions in your best interest.

You can appeal, if:

• You have been refused an EHC Statutory Assessment of Need
• You have been refused an EHC Plan after an EHC Statutory Assessment of Need
• You disagree with the how the young person’s needs are described in the EHC Plan (section B)
• You disagree with the provision to support the needs in the EHC Plan (section F)
• You disagree with the name or type of school, college or learning centre named in the EHC Plan (section I) * see further information on section I only appeals below
• You disagree with any amendments to an existing EHC Plan.
• The EHC Plan is not amended after a review.
• The EHC Plan is proposed to be ceased.
• Health and Social Care elements of the EHC Plan need addressing

You can appeal to the SEND First tier Tribunal:

• This is a free service.
• It is processed by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS)
• You manage the First-tier Tribunal appeal process.
• You would make your appeal application to them, and provide evidence that shows why you feel any EHC decision may be inappropriate.
• HMCTS will issue appeal papers on the Local Authority and the Local Authority will respond providing their evidence why they feel the decision is appropriate.
• There will be a schedule of Key Dates issued by HMCTS that must be adhered to from the outset.
• There is usually a one-day hearing for you to attend (not always)
• A judge, supported by lay members (experts in their field), will hear the case, and would then make a decision (not always at the hearing) based on what they had heard and read.
• Please contact First-tier Tribunal (SEND) for current case timescales.

You can use the SEND Mediation process:

• This is a free, confidential and without prejudice service.
• It is an informal, non-judgemental process where you discuss your concerns about the EHC decision with a senior member of the LA’s Children’s Services.
• Collis Mediation Ltd arrange and chair the Mediation Session.
• The process is a ‘Connect Mediation’ process (video or telephone/ conference call)
• A Mediation Session is chaired by an independent and impartial; trained and qualified mediator who is highly experienced in SEND; and who ensures both participants have equal time to speak and listen so all options can be explored.
• Participants to mediation can invite anyone they feel can support them (school, family, professionals)
• Reasonable expenses can be paid by the local authority subject to Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 section 41(1)(2).
• It takes no longer than 30-days to get to a mediation session.

After your Mediation Session:

• If agreement(s) are reached at mediation, mediation outcomes are drawn up by the mediator, and issued to you, and the LA, within 24-hours.
• Any outcomes document issued is legally binding and timebound ‘…as though a tribunal had ordered it’ (SEND Regulations 2014 s42)
  
• You are also issued with a mediation session certificate, so if you are dissatisfied with the outcome of mediation, the certificate allows you to appeal to SEND First-tier Tribunal up to a month from the date on the certificate.
  o Please note- disagreement with only the Health and/ or Social Care elements of an EHC Plan allow you to pursue mediation, but are not appealable at SEND First-tier Tribunal.

Information

You may find it helpful to speak to the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIAS) who can offer information advice and support whilst making your decision. Their contact details will be in the LA decision letter you have received and your local service can be found by searching here: https://councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/information-advice-and-support-services-network/find-your-local-ias-service

You may find it useful to read more detail about the SEND Mediation process, and your appeal options, on the Collis Mediation Ltd website here: https://www.collismediationltd.com/send-mediation

You must tell us how you wish to proceed within two-months
from the date on the LA decision letter.

Point to Note:
If choosing mediation, you may find it useful to check proposed attendees’ availability
prior to submitting your mediation request, as dates cannot be changed once the LA confirm.

You can visit our website and use our online form. Please follow this link: https://www.collismediationltd.com/mediation/send-mediation

You can also send the following information direct to our email address: info@collismediationltd.com

1. Parents Name (or person with parental responsibility- Advocates should obtain written consent to manage the appeal on their behalf and provide this when returning this information)
2. Child/ Young Person’s Name
3. Child/ Young Person’s Date of Birth. Please note, if the young person is over compulsory school age, we will also need a signed letter of consent explaining they are happy for you to manage the appeal process on their behalf. A young person ceases to be of "compulsory school age" on the last Friday of June during the year they become 16, provided that the child's birthday is before the beginning of the next school year.
4. Child/ Young Person’s Address with Post Code
   
5. Contact Telephone Number
   
6. Child/ Young Person’s school or college
   
7. School or college senior name and email and/ or telephone contact (SENDCo/ Head/ Deputy Head)- School will be invited in the majority of cases.
8. Reason for Appeal i.e., Refusal to Assess, Refusal to Issue an EHC Plan after Assessment, Description of Needs, Identified Provision, Refusal to Amend after Review, Amendments made after Review, Named Placement, the LA propose to Cease to Maintain the EHC Plan.
   
9. A Photo or Scanned Copy of the Local Authority decision Letter (which contains data we require to process your request)
10. A line clarifying if you wish to-
    a. take part in the Connect Mediation process (private video/ telephone call and conference video/ telephone call mediation) or
    b. proceed straight to tribunal.
    
11. A line stating, “I agree for my personal data to be shared to facilitate the process”.
    
12. A paragraph to explain the reasons you dispute the decision.
    
13. Are there any reasonable adjustments you require to participate in mediation?
    
14. Please provide any dates you are unavailable in the next four weeks if choosing to pursue one of our mediation platforms.

If you require any further help and assistance, please contact us at info@collismediationltd.com or on 07715 958290.

*Disagreements regarding Placement only (only about the type or name of the school in section I of your EHC Plan):
Contacting a mediation advisor and the mediation advisor issuing a Mediation Awareness Certificate does not apply if the dispute is only about the name and/ or type of placement named in section I of a final EHC Plan (The Children and Families Act 2014 s55(2)), therefore for an appeal regarding type and/ or name of placement only, you can proceed straight to tribunal with your appeal.

However, you can use the mediation process before appealing at tribunal if you wish (The Children and Families Act 2014 s51(c)(iii) & s52(1)(a)) or disagreement resolution if you wish to lodge a tribunal appeal immediately and still liaise with the LA. To manage your expectations, a new placement would generally not be named in an EHC Plan ‘at mediation’ or ‘at disagreement resolution’. This is because there is a legal process of ‘consultation’ the local authority must go through before deciding a placement is appropriate and whether to name the placement or not, as set out under The Children and Families Act 2014 39(2). That said the LA may agree to ‘reconsider’ a new placement being named as a result of either process and put that into the statutory procedure.