School admission appeals to move to Scottish Tribunals?

School admission and exclusion appeals, currently determined in the first place by local authority education appeal committees, are the latest category of business proposed to transfer to the Scottish Tribunals, under a new Scottish Government consultation.

Admission appeals concern parents' school placing requests, and the form of review when a parental request is refused by a local authority. Currently, appeal committees consist of members of the authority along with parents of school age children and persons whom the authority considers to have experience in education or who are familiar with local educational conditions. 

A smaller number of appeals related to exclusions  from school, which can also impact greatly on a child’s education.

The Tribunals (Scotland) Act 2014 envisages that the work of education appeal committees, from which appeal lies at present to the sheriff, will transfer to the Scottish Tribunals, with appeal to t he Upper Tribunal. However, the Scottish Government believes a change of this importance warrants careful consideration and wishes to allow the views of those involved in the current system to be fully explored.

The paper notes that under the current system, decisions are taken relatively locally, with the strong involvement of local elected councillors and other representatives with knowledge of the local area. Local authorities are concerned that transferring these cases to the Scottish Tribunals could make the process more remote from families and less accessible, and also that decisions might not properly take into account local education delivery and resources.

"However," it continues, "Scottish Tribunal members would continue to be drawn from across Scottish local communities to ensure fair representation. The allocation of cases to members also reflects locality. Members are generally allocated cases within specified miles of their local communities. It would be important to ensure that training and induction of members is updated to ensure that members had a good understanding of the local delivery of education."

Access the consultation here. Responses are due by 6 February 2023.