Appealing Exclusion From School - Excluding Child from School

Written by Sarah-Jayne Bass

Page 6 of 6

18. What if I have a complaint about the outcome of my appeal hearing?

If you have any queries about your hearing, or the letter from the Chief Clerk informing you of the panel's decision, please contact the Chief Clerk at the address shown on page 13. However, it is not possible for the Chief Clerk or the County Council to change the decision of an independent panel.

You cannot complain simply because your appeal has been unsuccessful. However, if you feel that you were not given a fair hearing, or that procedures were incorrectly followed, you could complain to the Local Government Ombudsman about maladministration by the appeal panel at the address below.

The Ombudsman can only make recommendations if he or she finds there has been maladministration on the part of the panel. Where the Ombudsman finds that there was maladministration he or she might recommend a fresh hearing (if this were practical) and the LEA would normally be expected to comply.

19. What if I feel the decision of the appeal panel was wrong in law?

If either you or the Governing Body consider that the panel's decision is perverse, you may apply for a judicial review. This must be done promptly and no later than three months from the date of the decision.

If a judicial review were granted, the court would consider the lawfulness of the panel's decision. If it found the panel's decision to be unlawful or unreasonable (in the narrow legal sense of 'unreasonable' i.e. irrational or perverse), the court could quash the decision and direct the LEA to hold a fresh appeal hearing before a newly constituted panel.

20. What if I want advice which is entirely independent of the County Council?

The Conciliation and Appeals Unit (CAU) is a unit within the Children, Schools & Families (CSF) department which operates entirely independently from any other service within CSF. It is separate and independent from the LEA's school admission service. It does not therefore become involved in the allocation of school places or in providing advice to schools on exclusion procedures. We seek to provide impartial advice to parents on the statutory appeal process.

If you would like to speak to someone who can help you but works entirely outside the County Council you could contact the Advisory Centre for Education (ACE) at the address below.