Spend on SEND tribunals

1. How much money did the council spend on SEND tribunals - please provide figures for the following financial years 2021/22, 2022/3 and 2023/4 i.e In the financial year 2022/3 - the council spent £100,000 on SEND tribunals 

 

RE spending, I am looking for total costs associated with processing and defending SEND appeals and tribunal hearings which includes legal costs like instructing external solicitors, commissioning expert witnesses etc.  

 

For additional context for the above figures, can you please provide me with the following information: 

 

2. In recent years, how many appeals were registered with the SEND Tribunal in relation to decisions made by the council? Please provide figures for the following financial years 2021/22, 2022/3 and 2023/4

 

i.e In the financial year 2022/3 - the council spent £100,000 on SEND tribunals. In 2022/3, a total of 50 appeals were lodged by parents, carers and young people challenging the SEND

support provided by the council. 

 

3. Of the appeals that eventually went to a formal tribunal hearing, how many ruled in favour of the council? Please provide figures for the following financial years 2021/22, 2022/3 and 2023/4

 

i.e In the financial year 2022/3 - the council spent £100,000 on SEND tribunals. In 2022/3, 40 appeals went to a formal tribunal hearing. 25 of these ruled in favour of the council 

 

4. Of the appeals that eventually went to a formal tribunal hearing, how many ruled in favour of parents / families/ young people? Please provide figures for the following financial years 2021/22, 2022/3 and 2023/4

 

i.e In the financial year 2022/3 -  the council spent £100,000 to SEND tribunals. In 2022/3, 40 appeals went to a formal tribunal hearing. 15 of these tribunals ruled in favour of parents 

 

Please note: if for data protection reasons you are unable to provide the figures broken down by year, please collate the figures over the three-year period. 

 

i.e in the three financial years (2021-4), the council spent £200,000 on SEND tribunals. Across the three year period, 40 appeals went to a formal hearing. 25 of these tribunals ruled in favour of the council and 15 ruled in favour of parents. 



Please note: By SEND tribunals I am referring to the Special Educational Needs and Disability First Tier Tribunal. This

is an independent national tribunal which decides appeals against local authority (LA) decisions about the special educational needs (SEN) of children and young people.

I can confirm that the information requested is held by Lincolnshire County Council. I have detailed below the information that is being released to you. 

1. Legal Services - £409,270.01 from 1 April 2021 to 30 November 2024

2. The Tribunal records SEN appeals on a calendar year basis. Lincolnshire County Council records its data in the same way and not on a financial year basis. Please see below:

3. This information is not available.

4. This information is not available.