Local Authority's Response and Bundle

The Local Authority will send an initial response to your appeal after 30 days.   This response should include a summary of the facts and why they are opposing the appeal.  The LA’s response from the Tribunal Team is based on the information they have at that point in time and their position may change during the course of the appeal.

If you do not agree with the information in the response you can counter-respond to the points the LA set out in your own response.

The local authority response usually includes:-

An introduction

This will be a brief summary of the appeal that has been lodged highlighting what is being appealed. 

Background

This will be a brief summary of the background of the child or young person and their needs and current placement.

Legal Provisions and Case law

The local authority may highlight any case law they feel is relevant. 

• This may look a little overwhelming but try not to worry as Tribunal Panels will be fully aware of case law. 
• In most cases, the local authority will refer to the Children & Families Act, the Education Act and any relevant case law from previous court cases. 
• You do not have to respond to any legal references.

Parental Grounds of Appeal

This will be an outline of the Parental Grounds of an appeal.

• You should read this carefully to ensure the local authority have the correct details of your appeal. 
• Have they missed out any information that is important to include? 
• Read the advice from IPSEA on IPSEA - My local authority has responded to my appeal but the response does not contain everything it was required to provide. What can I do?

 Grounds of Response

This is the local authority response to each point of your appeal.  The SEND Tribunal requires detailed information from the LA in its response.

You should carefully check through the LA response and:-

• Cross reference the facts to any documents and other evidence
• Is there anything you can counter argue or highlight as factually incorrect?
• Do you have any additional evidence that can support your grounds of appeal?
• Have your child’s views been taken into account or has the LA given the reason why they have not been obtained?
• Are the calculations of any costs a fair representation or is this something you can check with alternative services/companies eg. Transport, school placement. Is the difference in cost significant or can you argue that the benefits significantly out-way any difference in cost?

 Further evidence

This will be any further evidence the local authority intend to provide such as outcomes of consultations from education settings or cost schedules.

Conclusion

This will include a brief conclusion of their grounds of appeal.  Remember, this is the local authority’s opinion only and it will be up to the tribunal panel to make a final decision if the appeal goes all the way to a hearing. 

Returning your response

• Use headings and subheadings: On your response you can put the heading - PARENTAL RESPONSE TO THE LOCAL AUTHORITY GROUNDS OF RESPONSE at the start of the document along with the child or young person’s name and the appeal number
• Use Bullet points and numbers so that your response is clear to read – you should use the same numerical system as the LA have used in their response for ease of understanding.
• Refer to any supporting evidence/reports (provide copies if not previously submitted by either yourself or the LA)
• Look to see if there is anything else you want to send to the tribunal and LA to assist your case. Check for any gaps in your evidence.

IPSEA say

 

Your local authority (LA) must make sure its response addresses the points and provide all the information that was listed at the end of the registration letter and Case Directions.  If your LA does not include in the response everything that the SEND Tribunal directed, you should submit a Request for Changes form (Form SEND 7) (having sought the LA’s view first) to ask the SEND Tribunal to direct the LA to provide the missing information.