Petition · past parliament
Make LAs fund parental chosen legal representation at SEND appeals
Closed
370 signatures
What the petition asks
LAs are increasingly instructing expensive, external legal firms to represent them at SEND tribunals. Often this will be a barrister, regardless of whether the parents of the disabled child is represented. Tribunals are meant to be light touch, and families are not being given a fair hearing.
Parents are at breaking point, constantly fighting for their disabled childrens' educational rights, while LAs spare no expense to 'win' tribunal claims.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09687590701259674?journalCode=
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?page=view&resid=3EA9503A53A03A77!230&authkey=!APLwZXHPVC_Xem8
To redress this imbalance, LAs should either not be allowed to instruct external legal representation, or if they do, they should fund legal representation of parents choice.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09687590701259674?journalCode=
https://onedrive.live.com/redir?page=view&resid=3EA9503A53A03A77!230&authkey=!APLwZXHPVC_Xem8
To redress this imbalance, LAs should either not be allowed to instruct external legal representation, or if they do, they should fund legal representation of parents choice.
Timeline
| 22 Jun 2016 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 22 Dec 2016 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
370
Status
Closed
Opened
22 Jun 2016
Closed
22 Dec 2016
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.