Autism and SEND Tribunal appeals

In January, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) issued a report detailing the types and outcomes of appeals handled by the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal. The report can be found here.

There has been a steady yearly increase in appeals being made from 1,161 in 1994 to 4,069 in 2014.

Autism is the special educational need which gives rise to the most number of appeals, accounting for almost half of all appeals handled by the Tribunal. Autism has also seen the most significant increase in number of appeals. Appeals about children with autism have increased five-fold since 1998. In 2014, 85% of appeals concerning children with autism were found in favour of parents. This figure does not factor in those cases where the local authority has conceded to the appeal before reaching final hearing.

The report also explores which local authorities are most likely to feature in appeals. The highest are Sutton (14.5 appeals per 10,000 pupils), Lewisham (13 appeals per 10,000 pupils) and Medway (12.7 per 10,000 pupils). The average number of appeals per council was 4.8.

There are two clear trends from the MoJ report;

1. Autism is, by far, the most common issue in an appeal and is rapidly increasing.
2. The success rate of appeals has increased dramatically in the last four years.

There is no clear way to establish why either of these trends are developing but both may well be explained by an increase in the understanding, awareness and proactivity of parents.

Representation may also be having an impact on the success of appeals. In 2010 only 4% of parents were represented at a final hearing. The Tribunal stopped recording levels of representation in 2010 so there is no comparable figure. However, from our experience, it seems that far more than 1 in 25 parents are now represented at a final hearing.

It is almost certain that the number of appeals will continue to increase. The Children and Families Act 2014 is now 6 months old and local authorities are struggling with it.

It appears more important than ever that parents and carers of children with autism are aware of their special educational needs, understand the support that is available and are willing to seek special educational needs advice.