SEN Mediation in London

2.Main Content

SEN Mediation in London

This ADR scheme profile gives an outline of the SEN mediation service which covers the London area. There are similar schemes throughout England and Wales – some of them are listed in the ADR Directory

Further information is given below about:
Background
London SEN Mediation Service
What disputes are eligible
Cost
Legal advice
How it works
Outcomes
Satisfaction rates and evaluation

Background
If you have a dispute with your child’s school or Local Education Authority (LEA) over Special Educational Needs (SEN) provision, in many cases you can choose to take your case to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal Service (SENDIST). But you can also choose to try mediation to resolve the issue.

Since 2001, LEAs in England and Wales have to offer some form of independent dispute resolution service. The SEN Code of Practice, which came into effect in January 2002, gives guidance on what LEAs are expected to provide and sets out various acceptable models. Mediation is one form of dispute resolution that is used, and many LEAs have chosen to fund an independent mediation service.

There are eleven Regional SEN Partnerships, and each LEA can either choose to join with the other LEAs in the partnership to provide some kind of dispute resolution, or to make their own individual provision. This means that the arrangements vary across the country. In Scotland, LEAs have also had to make arrangements for independent dispute resolution since 2005.

You can get information about your local SEN dispute resolution service from your LEA, in England, Wales or Scotland. In order to give you an idea of the sort of service you might expect, this page gives an outline of the London SEN Mediation Service.

Note: If you have a dispute about provision for your child’s disability, you can choose to use the SENDIST tribunal system, SEN mediation, or the Disability Conciliation Service. In such cases it is important to get independent legal advice about which route to take.
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London SEN Mediation Service
In London most LEAs (29 out of 33) as well as Luton LEA use the London SEN Mediation Service. It is funded by the LEAs through a subscription that entitles them to a certain number of mediation sessions and to unlimited advice and guidance. The service has a small staff that provides advice and co-ordination, and it uses a panel of independent trained mediators for the actual mediation sessions. However, although the LEAs fund the service, it is independent. It is managed by KIDS, a national
charity working with parents and children with disabilities.

The London SEN Mediation Service was established in January 2002, and has handled more than 500 referrals since then.
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What disputes are eligible
If you have a concern about SEN provision by your child’s school, you are likely to try to resolve it with the teacher or head teacher. If you are not happy with the school’s response, you can go to the LEA. Once the LEA has made a decision, if you are still not happy, you have a right to appeal to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST). Among the issues that can be appealed to SENDIST are:

refusal to carry out a statutory assessment of a child’s special educational needs
refusal to issue a statement after an assessment has been made
refusal to maintain a statement
the contents of the statement, including the description of the child’s special educational needs, support needs and named school

In all cases where there is a right of appeal, LEAs are required to tell parents about the option of using a dispute resolution service. Parents can find out about the service from their LEA or their Parent Partnership Officer (PPO).

The London SEN Mediation Service can be used for disputes involving children with special educational needs, whether or not they have a statement of special educational needs. It can also be used even where there is no right of appeal to SENDIST, such as disputes over a school’s:

failure to set and/or review a child’s Individual Education Plan
failure to provide adequate support for a child with special educational needs

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Cost
The service is free to parents.
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Legal advice
If you are eligible for Legal Aid, you can get Legal Help for advice and assistance. However, the London SEN Mediation Scheme doesn’t encourage either side to bring legal advisers to mediation sessions. You can bring a supporter such as a friend or a family member.

Parent Partnership Officers (PPOs) should be available in each LEA to offer support and guidance. Be aware that the independence of PPOs varies across different LEAs. In some LEAs this role is filled by an independent organisation or voluntary group; in others it is a service provided by advisers employed and managed by the LEA.
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How it works
Referrals
Cases can be referred to the service from parents, advocates, LEAs, PPOs, schools or voluntary agencies. Referrals can be made by phone, letter or email. There is no need to submit any paperwork, complaint form or supporting documents. The service will contact all parties to talk about the situation, and to see whether the disagreement can be resolved at this stage with infromation and advice. The service will also discuss whether mediation might be suitable. Around half of the referrals to the service are resolved at this stage, and half are referred on to mediation.

Most referrals to the service come from parents and LEAs, but some come via PPOs and Citizens Advice Bureaux.

If you take part in mediation, you don’t give up your right to proceed to the tribunal. But make sure that you get independent legal advice about this – there are time limits for making a tribunal application.

Note: Because of the tight time limit for lodging an appeal with the SENDIST, which must be made within two months of the date the parents were informed of the LEA’s decision, parents are advised to lodge their appeal even if they want to attempt mediation.

Mediation is voluntary, so all parties need to agree to take part. Depending on who contacts the SEN mediation service first, the staff at the service will usually contact all the parties involved – the school, the LEA, the parents – to discuss whether mediation is suitable, and whether they are prepared to take part.

Preparation
It’s important that the people taking part in the mediation have the authority to settle. This means that the parents or carer, the school, and the LEA representative must all have the power to reach an agreement at the mediation session on the issues being discussed, without having to refer to a more senior colleague or to a panel.

Most disputes involve the school, which has a crucial role in making any agreement work on a day-to-day basis. The mediation service may well suggest that headteachers and SEN Coordinators (SENCOs), should attend, where appropriate.

The service will help each party identify the issues they want to resolve. This information will be shared before the mediation session, so everyone knows what is going to be discussed. The service will liase with parents, the school and the LEA to find a suitable date, time and venue. Usually four hours is set aside for the meeting.

The mediation session
At the mediation meeting the parties will meet the mediator together. There will usually be at least two separate rooms, so that the mediator can talk to each of the different parties separately. Each party is given time to say what their concerns are and what they would like to achieve. There is no need for witnesses or evidence, and the meeting is not a formal hearing. The mediator does not make a decision for them; the parties themselves decide how they want to resolve the dispute.

If the parties reach agreement, the mediator will write this up for them. It may be that they have reached only partial agreement, in which case the mediator will help them decide what the next steps are for the other issues in dispute.

The process is confidential. Only the written mediated agreement, if the parties achieve one, is shared outside the mediation – for example, with the SENDIST if the case proceeds to tribunal.
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Outcomes
Since the service was established in 2002, about half of referrals have been resolved though the service’s advice and guidance, and half have been mediated. The service reports that of those cases that go to mediation, around 80% result in an agreement.

Research on mediated cases in 2003 showed that 70% of LEAs and 60% of parents said that the agreement made at the mediation appointment was completely adhered to. The researchers also found that 50% of cases which went to mediation while there was a tribunal application pending were withdrawn before the tribunal. This means that 30% of mediated cases where an agreement was reached still went on to a tribunal: in most cases the researchers found that this was because not all the issues in dispute were fully resolved at the mediation appointment. However, comments from parents and LEAs suggested that the issues had often been clarified at the mediation appointment, making the tribunal more focussed.
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Satisfaction rates and evaluation
The service requests feedback from the parties in each mediation. On the basis of these returns, 94% of parties felt satisfied or very satisfied with the mediation process, and 80% were satisfied with the mediation outcome.
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February 2007