Can an expert be required to attend the SEND Tribunal to give evidence?

The answer in short is, yes, an expert, or anyone else who has knowledge of the issues, can be required to attend the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Tribunal to give evidence.

To request the attendance of an expert, either the parent or local authority (LA) can ask the Tribunal to issue a witness summons to require a named witness to attend. To do so, the parent or LA will need to complete a request for changes form, explaining why they feel it is important for the witness to attend and why their evidence cannot be provided in writing without them having to attend. The request must be made to the Tribunal at least three weeks before the hearing. If the Tribunal judge agrees, a witness summons will be issued for the parent or local authority to give to the witness who will have to attend the hearing unless there are very good reasons why they cannot.

You should question the benefit of a reluctant witness attending. Is their presence is absolutely necessary? Can a detailed report or answers to questions in writing be used instead? By compelling the expert to give evidence, what could happen is that they may not be as forthcoming as expected.

In our experience witness summons are not often requested in Tribunal appeals. But they do happen and can be helpful in some instances. For example, a witness summons may help school staff in a tricky situation attend as a witness for parents against their employer, local authority.