Appeals and mediation

Mediation might be a helpful first step in trying to resolve your disagreement with Leicestershire County Council.

You need to consider mediation before you can appeal to the SEND tribunal, except for placement only (section I) appeals. This means contacting the service so that they can talk to you about mediation and why it might be helpful to you. You can then decide whether to go ahead with it or not.

Mediation in Leicestershire is provided by Global Mediation and is a free and a less formal way of trying to reach an agreement with Leicestershire County Council.

If you decide not to use mediation, they will send you a certificate to show that you have considered it. You need this certificate to make your appeal to the tribunal.           

If you decide to go ahead with mediation, then the mediator will arrange a meeting between you and Leicestershire County Council within 30 calendar days.

If the mediation is successful, the results will be written up as a mediation agreement and it will be legally binding on both parties.

If an agreement isn’t reached in the meeting, then you will be sent your certificate and you can continue to make your appeal to the tribunal.           

To arrange mediation: 

Global Mediation 
Call: 0800 064 4488 
Email:info@globalmediation.co.uk

If Leicestershire County Council has written to you saying that they have decided not to carry out an EHC needs assessment, you can appeal against this decision.

This type of appeal is known as ‘on the papers’. This means you don’t need to attend an actual hearing. If you would like a hearing, you can request one in writing explaining your reasons why. This will then be considered by a registrar or judge.

If you want to appeal against a refusal to assess decision, you will find our advice about the refusal to assess appeals process.

We also have a tribunal advice leaflet that has helpful information:

To request a paper copy of this guide. You can contact us through our advice line the telephone helpline:

Leicestershire Sendiass
Call: 0116 305 5614 during  9am-3pm Monday to Friday
Email:info@sendiassleicestershire.org.uk

Or use our form to get in touch 

You want to appeal the decision you will need to complete the Send35a form on the government website.

 You can lodge an appeal if:

• you disagree with Leicestershire County Council’s decision not to issue an EHCP or

• you’re unhappy with what is written in the EHCP once it has been finalised or 

• they have ceased the plan or

• Leicestershire County Council are refusing to make any changes to the EHCP following a recent review.            

You can also appeal against the placement named in section I alongside a contents appeal if this is also something you disagree with. You wouldn’t need to complete a separate appeal application to do this.

If you want to appeal against one of these, you may find our advice about the appeal process for the refusal to issue a plan, plan contents, placement or cease to maintain a plan helpful. 

You can also contact us to request a paper copy of this guide through our advice line the telephone helpline:

If you decide to lodge an appeal you will need to complete a Send35 Appeal Form which is on the government website.

We have also produced a tribunal Advice leaflet that you might find helpful:

Parents and young people have the right to request that a particular school, college or other setting is named in an EHC plan. If the Leicestershire County Council doesn’t agree to a request and names a different setting, this can be appealed.

Unlike the other types of appeal, if this is all you are appealing for, you don’t need to have considered or had mediation to make this type of appeal and don’t need a mediation certificate. You have two months from receiving the decision letter from Leicestershire County Council to request your appeal.

You would need to make a case to the tribunal about why your preferred placement should be named, we would usually advise that you also think about also making a contents appeal at the same time. This way you can have the needs (section B) and the provision (section F) written in the plan looked at and discussed as part of the appeal. It may be that these sections need changing or amending in some way and could help to make a stronger case for why your preferred placement is better able to meet your needs.

If you want to appeal against a placement, you can also contact us to request a paper copy of this guide.

Leicestershire Sendiass
Call: 0116 305 5614 during  9am-3pm Monday to Friday
Email:info@sendiassleicestershire.org.uk

Or use our form to get in touch.

If you decide to lodge an appeal you will need to complete a Send35 Appeal Form which is on the government website.

We have also produced a tribunal Advice leaflet that you might find helpful:

If you feel that Leicestershire County Council has acted unlawfully in something it has decided to do, failed to do, or a policy that they follow, then you could make a claim for a judicial review. 

Judicial reviews are a different to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDIST) appeals as they don’t agree or disagree with the decision made by the public body. Instead, they look at the way the decision was taken, and whether it was made lawfully, fairly, and rationally.