What to expect at the Hearing

The SEND Tribunal administration team will send to you the Notice of Hearing information which will include log in details with instructions of how to log in.  

On the hearing day, they will ask you to log onto a ‘test’ and a clerk will check that everyone can access the link ok with no difficulties, and then you may be asked to log on again 5 minutes before the hearing.

You will be kept in an online waiting area until the hearing is ready to start.  You can just need to wait near your screen - the panel and Judge are aware that you are waiting. 

If you have any difficulties logging on, you can call 0330 8089405 and a clerk will talk you through what to do.   

If during the hearing, you encounter any technical difficulties or you are unable to take part for any reason, you can get the Judge's attention by using the 'chat' function or raise your hand and unmute yourself and explain the issue.  Sometimes, the screen will freeze and someone may even loose internet connection.  If this happens to you, please don't worry, the Tribunal are aware of connection problems and will stop the hearing and will wait for you to re-join. 

For a full day hearing there are generally 3 breaks (Mid morning, lunchtime, and afternoon break ) but you can ask for more breaks if needed or would like a break before your closing statement.  

• a Tribunal Judge
• 1 or 2 other panel members
• a clerk
• someone representing the local authority (a barrister)
• witnesses 
• parents
• someone to support or represent the parent (if needed)

Appeals will be heard by a panel consisting of a legally qualified Tribunal Judge who will chair the hearing and up to two specialist Panel members who have knowledge and experience of children with SEND.

The tribunal panel will introduce themselves and then each participant and witness will be invited to introduce themselves as well.  They are at the hearing to ask questions and to assist the SEN Tribunal in its understanding of the particular issues relating to special educational needs (SEN).

The Tribunal Judge will normally confirm which version of the working document they are working to and how many pages there are in the bundle. The panel will also identify any late evidence that has been submitted after the final evidence date and confirm if the late evidence has been accepted. 

The Tribunal will run through the Working Document, so if it’s a Section B and F appeal (needs and provision) they may work through the document in chronological order and any relevant witnesses will be called upon to give evidence on any issues that remain, for example a speech & language therapist might be asked to comment on communication interaction and an occupational therapist might be asked for comments on sensory and physical needs.   

There may be witnesses, for example two speech & language therapists (a witness for the local authority and a witness for the parent) and there will be an opportunity for everyone to ask questions based on the evidence submitted i.e. reports or witness statements. 

You and the local authority will be invited to give your views and present your evidence on each issue.  

Most Judges will want to hear from you at the start of the hearing on your views on how the child is doing now. Don't be concerned if the Judge does not invite you to speak but a typical question put to you by the Judge at this stage may be:

“We have read through all the information in the bundle, but can you tell us what Henry is like at home now"

You can briefly explain how your child or young person is like at home, for example getting up in the morning for school, what they like to do at home, what does he or she say about school (good or bad), what your main concerns are.

Please be aware this is not your opportunity to re-tell all the details which led to the tribunal being lodged or to use this as an opportunity to share your views about the local authority – the Tribunal will already have a view of this from the evidence they have read.  

You don’t need to use any legal jargon – the SEND Tribunal will want to hear your perspective on how things are for your child

Having read through the bundle you may have some questions and you will be given an opportunity to ask these of the LA or any of the witnesses during the hearing.  As such, you may find it helpful to make a note of these before the hearing date.   

You won’t know in advance what order the tribunal will call each witness to speak so it may be helpful to have a sheet of paper for each witness and LA with your questions on.

If a question relates to a specific point in the bundle, you may wish to make a note of this to so you can direct all participants to that point.  You may also wish to make sure your bundle has this marked with a sticky tab and highlighter for your ease of access as well.

For example:- If you have a paper copy of the bundle:-

 

(on yellow sticky note) - In your report on page 4, it mentioned my child would need enhanced staffing, can you explain what you mean by this please?

Refer to the bundle, page 4 – highlighting the sentence in the report

 

If you have an electronic version make a copy of the relevant page numbers. 

The SEND Tribunal Judge and panel may feel that some points need to be explored further and will ask questions.  As such, you may find that the questions you have prepared have already been asked by the panel before you are provide with an opportunity to ask them. 

To help you keep an eye on this, you may wish to have your questions in front of you when the panel is asking theirs, and tick them off if they have been asked already so you know which ones are left to cover yourself.

Each party (the local authority and parent) will be invited to give a final submission to the Tribunal.  The local authority generally goes first and then parents will have give their closing statement.  You can ask for a break to get your thoughts together.

You don't need to quote case law as it  is an expert Tribunal with a legally qualified Judge.  You should address the key points and anything which remains in contention. 

This is your opportunity to reinforce your appeal and summarise the points you have made in the appeal before the panel leave the hearing and discuss their outcome based on the evidence that has been presented.

You may find it helpful to consider your closing statement before the hearing, write it down and then read this at the end so you have a well thought out statement, coming away from the day feeling you have put your case across well.  However, be prepared to add or slightly amend your closing statement to include any vital points you have heard during the day.

You will not get the outcome on the same day. 

The SEND Tribunal decision will be communicated to you and the local authority, within 10 working days of the hearing.  When it is very busy, it can take longer to receive the decision.  If you have not received the Tribunal decision within 20 working days, we suggest you contact SEND First Tier SEND Tribunal and quote your appeal number for an update.

You or your representative can make an application for permission to appeal the decision made in the First-Tier Tribunal by making the following applications:

• Apply for permission to appeal if you think the decision made was wrong in law.
• Ask SEND Tribunal to review the decision because there has been a change of relevant circumstances since the decision was made.
• Ask for the decision to be set aside in certain circumstances.

The three applications are explained in detail in the guidance sent with your decision by the SEND Tribunal.

Ipsea provide further information on Challenging SEND Tribunal Decisions