Legislation

The Additional Support Needs Tribunals for Scotland are established by Section 17 of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004.

The Tribunals came into being on 21 November 2005. Schedule 1 makes provision about the constitution and procedures of the Tribunals, pre creation of the office of President, and other matters. It provides that each Tribunal must consist of a convener and two members.

Section 18 of the 2004 Act enables parents and young persons to make references to the tribunal under the following circumstances:

Any parent or young person, or where the young person lacks capacity, the parent, may refer to the tribunal specified decisions, failures or information of an education authority in relation to the child or young person's co-ordinated support plan. These include decisions in relation to the information contained in the co-ordinated support plan and failures or refusals to review the co-ordinated support plan.

Reference to the tribunal may also be made regarding the refusal of a placing request:

where a co-ordinated support plan exists;
where the need for a co-ordinated support plan is established but the co-ordinated support plan is not yet prepared;
and where a co-ordinated support plan has been refused and that decision has been referred to the tribunal.

Section 19 of the 2004 Act sets out the powers of the tribunal in relation to references made to it. The Tribunal may require an education authority to take action on a timeframe set by the Tribunal. In exercising its powers, the Tribunal must take account of the Code of Practice (section 19 (7)). When considering the facts of a case, the Tribunal will take account of the extent to which the education authority (and other bodies) have had regard to the Code of Practice in matters relating to the case. When determining references made to it, the Tribunal will be informed by the Code of Practice.

Section 21 of the 2004 Act provides that both parties may appeal to the Court of Session against a Tribunal decision, but only on points of law.

The 2004 Act also requires the Scottish Ministers to publish a Code of Practice and regulations which have been the subject of consultation.

For further information about the provisions of the 2004 Act, see the Explanatory Notes which give a fairly technical, section by section explanation.