2. Education
School Admission and Exclusion Appeal Panels
1. In July 2004 the Education and Skills Committee of the House of Commons published a Report entitled "Secondary Education: School Admissions" (HC 58-I), whose scope included the associated appeals arrangements for dealing with disputes about admissions. The Report was highly critical of the existing appeals arrangements and stated:
"We are concerned that school admission appeals enable entry to schools which have already admitted pupils up to their assessed capacity. More work needs to be done to evaluate school admissions policy and to ensure that arrangements are effective, equitable and do not involve unreasonable public expense."
2. We were pleased to note that the Committee's Report made reference to our earlier Special Report on School Admission and Exclusion Appeal Panels (Cm 5788), endorsing in its 58 recommendations one of the key recommendations in our Report concerning the operation of appeal panels run by some foundation and voluntary aided schools:
"Aspects of the conduct of appeal panels have been criticised by both the Local Government Ombudsman and the Council on Tribunals. Each has identified particular difficulties with appeals conducted by voluntary-aided and foundation schools and noted the good practice in many LEAs. It is evident that much more needs to be done to improve the quality of the appeals system and the service afforded to parents. We recommend that the Department conducts a thorough evaluation of the proposal to transfer to LEAs the administrative management of all appeals for non-admission to schools and, if necessary, reconsiders its opposition to legislation. In considering this proposal, parties should be mindful of the need for the appeals process to be, and to be seen to be, independent from any admission authority, including LEAs."
3. The Department's response to the Committee was disappointing, in so far as it mirrored its response to a similar recommendation in our Special Report; that is, that it had no plans to seek a change in the legislation to require LEAs to manage and run all admission appeals, including those for voluntary-aided and foundation schools; that the new co-ordinated admission arrangements had not yet had time to bed in; and that it would monitor the position.
4. Whilst it may well be the case that legislation is needed to require LEAs to manage and run all admission appeals, we believe more could be done without legislation both to encourage more LEAs to offer this service and voluntary-aided and foundation schools to avail themselves of this. And whilst we agree that the new co-ordinated admission arrangements need time to bed in properly, we are aware of the unsatisfactory operation of the new arrangements in some London boroughs, which may well have generated additional appeals. We will continue to monitor this position closely.
Education Appeals Support Initiative
5. We continue to support and promote the wider proliferation of networking groups, similar to the existing Education Appeals Support Initiative (EASI), which comprises groups of appeals clerks who meet regularly to share their experiences and examples of best practice. We have long urged the inclusion of some panel members in the groups and have been pleased to observe that this is beginning to take place.
6. Whilst the geographical spread of the groups is becoming much greater, there is an apparent lack of representation from among the London-based boroughs, which needs to be addressed. With support from the Department for Education and Skills and some of the key members of the main EASI group, we are keen to encourage the establishment of a London-based group. To this end we planned to sponsor a conference in the autumn for London-based appeals clerks to explore the possibility of establishing a London-based EASI group. Given the wide geographical spread of the London boroughs and the central location of our own offices, we agreed to offer such a group the use of our offices for its meetings.
7. We are also supporting work within the EASI group aimed at increasing diversity within the composition of admission and exclusion appeal panels. Within communities with large minority ethnic populations it is particularly important to have a greater degree of diversity in the lists of panel members. A working group is to be set up in the autumn to consider such issues as how best to target minority ethnic communities in advertising campaigns to recruit panel members, best practice in running advertising campaigns for new panel members and monitoring and evaluating the effect of diversity policies.
"Top Tips" for Clerks to Independent Appeal Panels
8. At a meeting with departmental officials last year we discussed the idea of producing a list of "top tips" for appeals clerks, which the department subsequently produced, after consultation with us on an early draft. The "top tips" comprised useful guidance and best practice in dealing with appeals, covering issues such as:
- the receipt of appeals within the statutory time limit
- convening a panel within the statutory time limit
- training for panel Chairs and members
- the choice of hearing venue and the need for neutrality
- the need to notify the parties to an appeal of the hearing, including advising parents about where they might obtain further information and advice
- the arrangements for the appeal hearing.
9. We anticipate that these "top tips" will go some way to resolving the practical difficulties that we have identified at our visits to appeal hearings, and act as a useful best practice reference tool for appeal clerks.
Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal
10. Rosemary, Lady Hughes, published her first Annual Report as President of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST) in December 2004, for the year ending 31 August 2004. The headline issues in her Report included:
- for the first time since the Tribunal's inception, there was a slight reduction in the number of appeals registered, which may be partly explained by the devolution of Welsh appeals to the new Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales
- the continuing low incidence of appeals under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995
- the Tribunal's move to new offices along with a number of other tribunal systems;
- the Tribunal's prospective transfer to the new Tribunals Service in April 2006;
- the increased incidence of holding tribunal hearings in dedicated tribunal premises belonging to other tribunals such as the Care Standards Tribunal and the Immigration Appellate Authority;
- the introduction of an appraisal scheme for Chairs and members.
11. So far as the transfer of the Tribunal to the new Tribunals Service is concerned, we are taking a keen interest in how this is being taken forward and one of our members sits as a member of the Implementation Board, which has been set up by the Department for Constitutional Affairs.
12. Lady Hughes has also recently published helpful guidance regarding the involvement of children and young people in appeal hearings, both in disability and special educational needs cases.
Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales
13. Rhiannon Ellis Walker published her first Annual Report as President of the Special Educational Needs Tribunal for Wales (SENTW) in November 2004, for the year ending 31 August 2004. This was also the first ever Annual Report for the new Tribunal following its inception in April 2003. SENTW comprises four legally qualified Chairs, including the President, and eight lay members, all with expertise in SEN and/or disability discrimination.
14. The key headlines from the SENTW's Annual Report included:
- 117 SEN and 2 disability discrimination appeals were registered during the year
- 80% of appeals were upheld
- there is provision for appeals to be heard in English and/or Welsh
- the establishment of three regional SENTW user groups, which meet twice yearly.
15. The SENTW organised mock hearing events for tribunal users, one of which was attended by Heather Wilcox, the member of the Council who represents the interests of people in Wales. These events were aimed at providing training opportunities for tribunal representatives who might be unused to attending hearings. The mock hearing case was based on an actual appeal and the events were run as close to a real hearing as possible.
16. Heather Wilcox reported that the event she attended was both well attended and well run and provided an invaluable opportunity for tribunal representatives to develop an appreciation of how the Tribunal operates, and more specifically about what actually happens at a hearing. This is an excellent example of good practice, which we would encourage other tribunal systems to emulate.
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