Decision To Impact On Challenges to Special Educational Needs Tribunal over School Placements

An important ruling by the Court of Appeal has clarified the legal position regarding which costs should be taken into account when assessing whether the costs of an independent school placement sought by a parent for their disabled child amounts to unreasonable public expenditure for the purposes of Section 9 of the Education Act 1996.

The Court unanimously overturned the previous decision made in the case of WH v Warrington and made clear that public expenditure should be defined as any expenditure from the public purse regardless of the source.

This means that health and social care costs, such as respite care should be considered alongside any educational costs when comparing the costs of the parent’s choice of school with the one proposed by the local education authority.

The Judgment will have significant implications on cases where parents are seeking a specialist residential school placement to be named in Part 4 of a child’s Statement of Special Educational Needs.

Expert Opinion

This is welcome decision by the Court of Appeal which improves parental choice. The law now sensibly recognises the need for all costs from the ‘public purse’ to be considered when decisions are being made about what school to be named in a child’s statement of SEN. <br/> <br/>"Children who require specialist residential placements to meet their educational needs often also require a large amount of care and support from both the NHS and social care in order to ensure their needs are met. The need for that support, for example, respite care, is often met by the residential placement. This Judgment will ensure that the total cost of meeting that child’s needs will have to be considered by the local authority when comparing costs of schools. <br/> <br/>"Parents seeking to exercise choice in the special needs school provision are now able to compare the cost of schools on a level playing field. <br/> <br/>"This approach is consistent with the government’s objectives under Children and Families Act 2014 which introduces Education, Health and Care Plans from 1 September 2014."