Local authorities in England and Wales are spending more than £150 million a year on fighting parents in special needs tribunals, event though they lose 99% of cases.
An investigation by LBC revealed that parents felt gaslit by councils during the process, and sometimes waited for years to get a hearing – while their children remained out of school.
One parent admitted to being hospitalised due to the stress of the situation, while others said their own legal fees had topped £25,000, which could not be recouped even if the tribunal found in their favour.
You’re constantly on a war-footing – you’re always ready for a fight
The parent, who was appealing against a refusal of an EHCP for her child, said: “The amount of paperwork, correspondence and work we’ve put into this is akin to a PHD thesis. I open it and it makes me feel quite nauseous.”
She added: “The whole process was supposed to take 20 weeks – we’re now at 91… This has almost broken me.
“I hate to use the Gen Z term, but I felt gaslit. I was looking at these people [the council] and thinking ‘how are you making these decisions?’ The psychological impact of that is enormous.”
The analysis, based on figures from Pro Bono Economics, estimated the total cost of the legal action, and found that more than 6,000 appeals were settled before reaching the courts.
Some participants in the study accused local authorities of using the tribunal system as a means of deterring families from pursuing support, so that they could reduce costs.
One parent said: “You’re constantly on a war-footing – you’re always ready for a fight. You inevitably take it out for the people around you.
“I think tribunals are used to defer any decision… 100%, I think that’s true.
“The local authorities know that they have to take a short-term view because there’s just been so much underinvestment in the system considering the increased amount of diagnoses and support children need.”
