New tribunal system should lead to faster decisions

Cathy Reay

Campaigners have welcomed the government’s overhaul of the current system of tribunals – including those for care, special education and mental health – but say it should have come sooner.

The new tribunal system, introduced this month, is now split into First-Tier and Upper Tribunals.

By unifying the system, the government hopes to pool expertise, minimise delays and improve communication.

The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal (SENDT), the Care Standards Tribunal and the Mental Health Review Tribunal have all been merged into a new “First-Tier” Health, Education and Social Care Tribunal.

Richard Rieser, chairman of Disability Equality in Education, said: “This new system will streamline decisions, as there will be specialised judges dealing with each appeal.”

Tara Flood (pictured), chairwoman of the Alliance for Inclusive Education, said the new approach was long overdue. She said: “They said the system would improve last time but we still had the same problems. This should have happened before.”

The new tribunal structure is being headed by the senior president, Lord Justice Carnwath. He said: “These reforms are the most radical changes to the tribunals' system in 50 years and will ensure tribunal-users continue to experience a service that is speedy, inexpensive and accessible.”

The Disability Law Service said the new tribunal format would help claimants, but those without lawyers might find their case was more difficult to win than those who used the old system.

Speaking about the SENDT, Ms Flood said: “The problem was that local authorities ramped it up to be a legal mechanism. Parents I have spoken to were forced to bring in barristers and legal help to get anything done.”  

Mr Reiser agreed but said the new system still didn’t go far enough. He said: “Unless parents are explicit in bringing disability discrimination to light in their appeal, it is ignored. In my view, the tribunal should be able to bring this forward as parents may not be able to identify discrimination.”

18 November, 2008 

Picture credit: Jamie Trounce