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Looking for help
Posts: 3767
Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:12 am
Location: Berkshire

Post by Looking for help »

Dear HJC66
Does the decision letter have to come within 5 working days?
Rgds
LFH
HJC66
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun May 10, 2009 10:27 pm
Location: Wirral

Post by HJC66 »

Dear LFH

Below is a quote from School Admission Appeals code.

"The panel chair or the clerk to the panel
(not someone from the admission authority)
must sign the decision letter, to be sent by
the clerk as soon as possible after the panel
has made its decision, ideally within five
working days, although this may not always
be possible where there are multiple appeals
for one school".

I guess the answer depends on whether or not there were multiple appeals.
HJC66
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun May 10, 2009 10:27 pm
Location: Wirral

Post by HJC66 »

We've had a letter from the LA saying that there are no grounds for a further appeal hearing. Attached to this letter is a decision note as well as Clerks notes. Details below

Decision Note

2 STAGE PROCESS

Stage 1: Case made out by Authority/Governors - Yes
Stage 2: Parental factors/Decision - Refused

Is the panel satisfied that the case has been made
Yes - Appeal should be refused

The panel may only uphold the appeal if it is satisfied that either of the following circumstances applies (Para 12 Schedule 24 SSFA 1998)

a) Whether in the circumstances of the case, the decision was one which no reasonable admission/governing body could have made.
b) If a mistake has been made in implementation of the admission arrangements; would the child have been offered a place if the admission arrangement had been properly implemented.

Clerks notes make no reference to how the panel reached their decision or if any matters were taken into consideration.

How can this appeal be deemed to be independent and impartial. It is clear from a) and b) above that the panel could only uphold the appeal if either of those circumstances applied to us :x
Alex
Posts: 1097
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:10 pm
Location: Lincolnshire

Post by Alex »

I expect that Etienne will be along later to advise more fully but the circumstances mentioned in a) and b) above:

The panel may only uphold the appeal if it is satisfied that either of the following circumstances applies (Para 12 Schedule 24 SSFA 1998)

a) Whether in the circumstances of the case, the decision was one which no reasonable admission/governing body could have made.
b) If a mistake has been made in implementation of the admission arrangements; would the child have been offered a place if the admission arrangement had been properly implemented.


pertain to Infant Class Size Appeals where the appeals panel is limited in the factors which it may take into account because of the legislation restricting class sizes for Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 to 30 pupils.

If your appeal was against both non-qualification and oversubscription the panel should have considered both of these aspects. The non-qualification aspect can now be dealt with in one of two ways depending on whether a non-statutory review has been carried out. If such a review has taken place (as it was in your case?) the panel must decide whether this was carried out in a fair, consistent and objective manner. If they consider this was so they may not go on to consider arguments put forward by the parent about academic ability and/or mitigating circumstances. If, however, there has been no review or the admissions authority makes no claim that such a review was fair, consistent and objective or the parent successfully convinces the panel that such a review was not fair, consistent and objective despite the admissions authority's claim that it did fulfil these criteria, then the panel would go on to consider any arguments and evidence the appellant puts forward as to why the score was not a true reflection of the child's ability.
In considering the oversubscription element of the appeal the panel should have weighed up and questioned the arguments put forward by the school/LA about whether there would be prejudice to the efficient education of pupils in the school caused by admitting any further pupil(s). If they found that there would indeed be prejudice caused by admitting further pupils they should have proceeded for each appellant to weigh up the arguments by balancing the degree of prejudice to the
school against the appellant’s case for the child being admitted to the preferred school, before arriving at a decision.
as the Code puts it.

I would have expected the decision letter to have made explicit the decsions for each stage and element of the process.

The letter from the LA is concerning - either the letter writer does not understand what they are dealing with or they are writing about an appeal where nobody knew what they were doing! Had you also complained about the presenting officer being alone with the panel? - I would find it shocking if you had and they had omitted to answer you on this point.

It would seem that a complaint to the Ombudsman beckons if only to find out what on earth was going on in your appeal.
HJC66
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun May 10, 2009 10:27 pm
Location: Wirral

Post by HJC66 »

Thank you so much for your reply Alex. It would appear that the whole Wirral Appeals process is seriously flawed. I am totally astounded by the reply from the LA. When I initially wrote requesting another hearing, I only gave one example to demonstrate where they did not follow the correct procedure (I haven't yet said anything about the LA rep being alone with the panel or anything else).

I cannot believe their unprofessionalism. They seem to of taken nothing into consideration. There is absolutely no justification given for their decision to refuse the appeal. I really am lost for words. I don't quite know what to do next. There no point in engaging in any further correspondence with the LA as nobody seems to know what they are doing :!: :!: :!:
Looking for help
Posts: 3767
Joined: Thu Dec 18, 2008 11:12 am
Location: Berkshire

Post by Looking for help »

Dear HJC66,
I think you have to contact the ombudsman, I am sure he would be very interested to find out what has happened in your case.
Rgds,
LFH
Grumpy!
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri May 02, 2008 2:45 pm
Location: Wirral

Post by Grumpy! »

Wirral was a disaster area last year - the ombudsman questioned a lot of things last year. If you think it might help, can send you some copies of correspondence if you pm me. (Apologies if have already bored you with it, I didn't keep track of those I've sent to! :oops: ) It does relate more to how they dealt with the new code of conduct with regard to the IAB's

For example they said:
I continue to have concerns about the LEA's role in the applciations process..
You may not be in a position to provide definitive evidence that your case was not considered fairly. But equally, there is no evidence to confirm the IAB was fair in your case.
The ombudsman's office is helpful, but it does string things out further - I didn't know for sure where my son would be going to school until the end of the summer term. Not an easy decision to make. I don't regret it, even though I didn't get the result I wanted in the end, but am only sorry that things don't seem to have improved for those appealing this year.
Alex
Posts: 1097
Joined: Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:10 pm
Location: Lincolnshire

Post by Alex »

This is the sort of thing I would expect to see in a letter dismissing a non-qualification appeal where there was not a decision made that a Review had been carried out in a fair, consistent and objective manner and the panel had therefore considered the arguments put forward by the parent about academic ability and any mitigating circumstances:

The Appeal Panel did not support your appeal.

The reason for the Appeal Panel’s decision not to support your appeal was:-

Children are selected for admission to X Grammar School according to their ability and aptitude. Y was not considered by the local education authority to be of suitable ability or aptitude to be admitted to the school. The Education Officer made out his case under Section 86(3)(c) of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998. This ground was not outweighed by parental preference.

In reaching its decision the Appeal Panel firstly considered the case presented on behalf of the School: namely, that pupils are admitted in accordance with the County Council Policy; that the Admissions Criteria had been applied and x places had been correctly allocated; that no pupils with an aggregate score of less than x in the 11+ examination had been offered places and that x of the x referrals made by primary School Head Teachers to the Review Board had been successful.

The Panel then went on to consider all that was presented on Y’s behalf: namely that (Here would follow a list of the main points raised by parent and any evidence from school as to academic ability and mitigating circumstances).

However, after carefully listening to all the information presented, the Panel took the view that the 11+ result was an accurate reflection of Y’s ability at present and therefore did not consider her to be suitable for an education at X Grammar School at the present time.


Had the Appeals Panel only considered whether the Review had been carried out in a fair, consistent and objective manner (which seems unlikely given the questions you reported you were asked during the appeal) this should have been made quite clear in the decision letter (and you should have been aware before appeal that this was how it was to be handled).

The letter in reply to your complaint does not seem to accurately reflect your appeal circumstances at all.
Etienne
Posts: 8978
Joined: Mon Dec 12, 2005 6:26 pm

Post by Etienne »

Dear HJC66
a)The names of Panel Members and the Clerk or the capacity in which they were serving were not provided to us prior to the hearing. (Should receive 3 days prior to hearing)
b)No additional information was asked of us.
c)No notification was given of witnesses

(a) is worth a mention, although it's likely to be regarded as a technical breach rather than something causing an injustice.
(b) and (c) I suggest omitting, as I assume they do not apply. For example, the LA has nothing to report unless they intend bringing a witness other than a representative of the school. (They do not have to make a "negative return".)
c)No copies of the information or documents supplied to the panel were provided to us.
Are you confident that the papers sent to the panel were different from the papers sent to you?
Neither the Panel Chair nor the Clerk signed the decision letter. Although the letter was signed, it was signed on behalf of the Independent Appeals Panel. We did not receive the decision letter within 5 working days.
Although the Code says that the letter must be signed by the panel chair or the clerk to the panel, the appeals administrator could be called "clerk to the panel". The important point is that it must not be signed by someone from the admission authority.
"5 working days" is another example of a technical breach - worth a mention but not something that causes an injustice.

The other points look fine.

Alex has already helpfully commented on your subsequent post.
a) Whether in the circumstances of the case, the decision was one which no reasonable admission/governing body could have made.

It is totally bewildering that they seem to be quoting Infant Class Size legislation. It's even worse than you think (!) because the legal definition of "unreasonableness" (the "Wednesbury definition") applies.

The Code of Practice states (specifically with regard to Infant Class Size cases):
3.25 In order for a panel to determine that an admission authority’s decision to refuse admission was unreasonable, it will need to be satisfied that the decision to refuse to admit the particular child was “perverse in the light of the admission arrangementsâ€
Etienne
HJC66
Posts: 38
Joined: Sun May 10, 2009 10:27 pm
Location: Wirral

Post by HJC66 »

Dear Etienne, Alex, Grumpy and LFH
I don't know that I would have the strength to carry on pursuing this if it wasn't for the advice and support that you and others on the forum have provided. I don't have time tonight to reply to your posts individually as I'm really busy compiling a letter to LGO. There has been another development with the LA which I will tell you about when I have more time. Be back soon :)
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