Yes. Please see below to learn more about what will need to happen next, and what options are available to you. 

Sections B and F 

As you and your local authority (LA) have reached agreement on these sections (special educational needs and provision), the various changes which have been agreed should be accurately and fully recorded in the working document.  

Please check that all the changes you wished to see are reflected in that document. If not, go back to your LA with another version of the working document with any missing amendments now included. 

Once you and the LA are happy the working document is complete with all the agreed changes, make that your final version of the document. 

Section I 

You can continue with the remainder of your appeal. For example, if the LA refused to name the particular school you requested for your child, you can still ask the SEND Tribunal to look at the evidence and decide what school is to be named. 

The SEND Tribunal has confirmed that if section I becomes the only remaining issue during the course of an appeal, the parties can ask for a Judicial Alternative Dispute Resolution (JADR) hearing. 

JADR involves a SEND Tribunal judge confidentially discussing the appeal with you and the LA, highlighting to both parties the strengths and weaknesses of their arguments, and seeing if agreement can be reached. Please see our further information on what JADR is, and what to expect from a JADR hearing. 

If the SEND Tribunal thinks there is a possibility of an agreement being reached it is more likely to agree to your request for JADR. The SEND Tribunal is also keen to manage its volume of appeals and has seen that matters are often resolved in these types of hearings. 

You might want to ask for JADR if, for example, your hearing date is some time away because if agreement is reached you won’t need to go to a full hearing.  

If you want to make a request for JADR having agreed Sections B and F, you should use the Request for Change form to do this and: 

  1. explain on the form that the parties have reached agreement on all remaining issues except for Section I 

  1. attach the final agreed version of the working document as explained above, to show the SEND Tribunal what agreement the parties have reached on Sections B and F, and 

  1. ask for a JADR hearing in respect of the remaining issue, Section I.  

The SEND Tribunal is likely to allow your request for JADR if it is happy with the changes the parties have agreed regarding Sections B and F and it sees there is a possibility of an agreement being reached regarding Section I.  

It is much less likely to agree to your request if it considers Sections B and F should not be specified in the manner agreed between the parties, or if there is a not possibility of an agreement being reached regarding Section I at that time.  

If a JADR hearing goes ahead and agreement is reached, the judge attending the JADR hearing will draft a consent order which will be sent to both you and the LA. This should provide an order in respect of: 

  1. Sections B and F as set out in the final working document provided to the SEND Tribunal when the JADR request was made, as long as the SEND Tribunal is happy with the changes agreed between the parties, and 

  1. the agreement reached on Section I in the JADR hearing. 

Once this consent order is issued, it is legally binding and the LA will have to meet specific deadlines set out in law. 

JADR is a voluntary process however, so if you would prefer to wait until your hearing date and not take part in such a process, that’s fine you can. 

If you are not sure about whether to ask for JADR, or want more advice on JADR you can book an appointment to speak with us.