How does a local authority respond to a SEND Tribunal appeal?

Within 30 working days of receiving the appeal, the local authority must file a written response with the SEND Tribunal, stating whether it opposes the appeal and why, and send a copy to the parent at the same time. The 30-working-day clock and the contents of the response are set by rule 21 of the Tribunal Procedure Rules 2008 (as in force in 2024).

What the response must contain

Rule 21 sets a minimum. Your written response has to give the authority's name and address, state whether it opposes the appellant's case and, if it does, the grounds for opposing it, and set out the child or young person's views about the issues raised, or the reason those views have not been obtained. HMCTS guidance for authorities expects you to add the name and profession of your representative, a summary of the facts, the reasons for the decision under appeal, and the signature of an authorised officer. A copy goes to the other party as you file, not afterwards.

The working document for content appeals

If the appeal is about what the plan says, rather than a refusal to assess or a decision to cease, enclose a working document with your response. This is an editable copy of the final EHC plan, usually in Microsoft Word, that both sides amend to track agreed and outstanding changes before the hearing. It is the spine of negotiation: you finalise it by the directions deadline, commonly about two weeks before the hearing. Sending the response without the working document on a Section B or Section F appeal is the most common avoidable slip.

The bundle duty and the deadline that actually bars you

The 30-working-day response date is the headline, but it is not the deadline that removes the authority from the case. The Tribunal's directions, issued with the registration letter, set the dates for the evidence bundle, which the authority compiles, and for any further evidence. Miss a direction, most often the bundle deadline, and the Tribunal can use its case-management and barring powers to stop the authority taking any further part in the proceedings. At that point the appeal is effectively heard on the parent's evidence alone.

So read the registration letter for the directions, not just the response date. The two run on different clocks, and it is the directions clock that carries the barring risk.

The sequence, in order

1. Diarise the 30-working-day response date and every directions deadline from the registration letter on the day it lands.
2. Draft the response to the rule 21 minimum, plus the HMCTS additions, and have an authorised officer sign it.
3. For a content appeal, attach the working document as an editable file.
4. File with the Tribunal and serve the parent at the same time, then build the bundle to the directions timetable.

Full procedural detail for authorities is on GOV.UK, and the response duty itself sits in rule 21 of the 2008 Rules.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.