Councils in England have been accused of “wasting” millions of pounds in court disputes with parents and carers over disability and educational support for their children.
A total of 11,052 tribunals involving special educational needs and disabilities (Send) were registered in the year 2021-22, according to a new report, which said 96% were won by parents, carers and young people.
The legal challenges cost some £59.8 million – the majority of which had to be paid by local authorities, the Pro Bono Economics report said.
Parents can ask their local authority to assess their child for an education, health and care (EHC) plan if they feel they need more support than is available through special educational needs support.
These plans identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs.
However, if a local authority decides not to carry out an assessment, not to create an EHC plan, or if there is disagreement about the special educational support in the plan, this can be challenged and appealed to the Special Educational Needs and Disability (Send) Tribunal.
Pro Bono Economics said there was a “deeply worrying” rise in the number of legal challenges to council decisions about how to support children with additional needs – which they said increased by 29% on the previous year – while the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils, said the jump “is indicative of a system that is not working”.
