Schools and councils face penalties if they do not follow beefed-up rules on evidence for tribunal hearings on SEND from July, a judge has warned, under a change enacted because of an increase in “irrelevant” information.
Guidance on the preparation of evidence bundles has existed for many years. But a senior tribunal judge told the Schools and Academies Show the tribunal had been forced to issue a mandatory “practice direction”.
Record numbers of parents are appealing council refusals to issue education, health and care plans (EHCPs), with nearly all winning their challenges.
In some cases, schools are required to prepare evidence for the tribunal.
Judge Meleri Tudur said the advent of more digital working, freedom of information and subject access requests meant more people were demanding files from the local authority “and then submitting them all, regardless of whether they are relevant or not”.
She also described receiving “threads of emails” and other communications.
The direction limits core bundles to 100 pages and supplementary evidence to 200. It also stipulates that copies of correspondence and email threads between the parties should not be included “unless relevant to a specific issue”.
Tudur said page limits had existed for years, but were now “enforceable”, because “people are sending us information that’s irrelevant”.
Blank forms and pages, multiple copies of the same document and professional and school reports more than three years old at the time of the appeal are also banned.
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