Mediation and Disagreement Resolution Arrangements - WNC

If West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) decide not to undertake a statutory assessment, they will write to you and provide their reasons.

You have the right to appeal their decision through the First-tier SEND Tribunal service. Before you submit an appeal to the Tribunal service, you must consider mediation.

When WNC write to you, they will provide you with full details of the mediation process and contact details of independent mediation services.

Single Route of Redress - National Trial

The Government have extended the powers of the First-tier SEND Tribunal. Tribunal judges can now make non-binding recommendations about the health and social care aspects of Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans. 

Next steps if you are unhappy with the decision not to assess and/or not to issue an EHC plan 

1:  Contact the EHC team to discuss your concerns.

2:  Support and advice - useful contacts to assist you through the process 

The following bodies can offer independent advice to help you resolve your problem:

• Information, Advice and Support Service (IASS)
• Global Mediation
• SEND appeals tribunal
• West Northants Voices in Partnership Group

3: Disagreement resolution service

Disagreement resolution is the process of exploring and addressing issues about any aspect of a child's SEN provision. This includes health and social care disagreements.

It is intended to provide a quick and non-adversarial way to resolve disagreements. They are independent, confidential and do not affect the outcome of a tribunal hearing.

Before registering an appeal with the First-tier Tribunal service, you must contact a mediation advisor. They will provide information about entering into mediation and/or obtaining a certificate from the mediation service.

The only exception is if an appeal relates only to Section I of an EHC Plan - you do not need to consider or contact the mediation services.

4. Appealing to the First-tier SEND Tribunal service 

Any appeal to the First-tier SEND Tribunal service must be lodged within two months of receiving WNC's decision letter or within one month of receiving a mediation certificate.

Partial agreements achieved through mediation can help focus any subsequent appeal on remaining areas of disagreement.

Appeals can be made via GOV.UK.

Find out more about appealing with the First-tier SEND Tribunal service