SEND tribunal has faced “unprecedented demand”, registering 24,000 appeals in 2024/25, senior judge reveals

The figures from Judge Mark Sutherland Williams are contained in Lord Justice Dingemans' first annual report as Senior President of Tribunals.

The HESC oversees five key jurisdictions: Mental Health, Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND), Disability Discrimination in Schools (DD), Care Standards, and Primary Health Lists.

According to the report, across all HESC jurisdictions, remote and hybrid hearings have become “standard practice”, with SEND hearings defaulting to video, with in-person options available.

While acknowledging the “unprecedented demand” faced by the SEND jurisdiction, Judge Sutherland Williams noted that in 2024/25, 65% of appeals were still resolved within the 22-week target, and 95% of decisions were issued within ten working days of hearings.

He attributed this to an “increased focus” on enhancing case management and forward planning and listed the following innovations by the Tribunal:

• Judicial Alternative Dispute Resolution (JADR) delivered by salaried and fee-paid judges.
• School holiday hearings.
• Enhanced case management for effective listing of appeals.
• Rollout of short-form decisions in line with guidance issued by the Senior President of Tribunals.
• New practice guidance on what to expect at SEND and DD hearings.
• A new practice direction on how to prepare bundles for SEND and DD hearings.

The report noted: “These initiatives enabled the SEND jurisdiction to manage phase transfer appeals efficiently, enabling more phase transfer decisions to be made in time for school placements on 1 September 2025 than would otherwise have been possible.”

Meanwhile, on the issue of transparency, Judge Sutherland Williams noted that HESC “continues to improve public access to hearing information”, adding that the publication of daily hearing lists in SEND starting from September 2025 has marked “a significant step forward in accessibility and openness”.

Lord Justice Dingemans, who started in the role of Senior President of Tribunals in August 2025, set out in the annual report his key aims for the year ahead, which include addressing backlogs, digitisation, transparency and openness.

Thanking his predecessor, Sir Keith Lindblom, who led the tribunals for five years, Lord Justice Dingemans said: “Sir Keith’s commitment to improving equality, diversity and inclusion in the tribunals, and his dedication to pursue the aims of ‘One Judiciary’, were exceptional. I look forward to continuing this very important work.”

The aim of ‘One Judiciary’ is to bring the courts and tribunals closer together, to make better use of resources, and to demonstrate that judges are part of a “single judicial family”.

Lottie Winson