managing the appeals process
the challenge:
A local authority identified a problem with the way they had
applied their own admission criteria used to allocate school
places. The problem centred on the inconsistent methods used to
calculate the distance from a child’s home to their school of
choice meaning some children could have been refused a place at a
school to which they were entitled. Once the issue had been
identified the local authority instructed us to urgently advise on
the legal and practical steps required to ensure all applications
were dealt with fairly and to minimise the risk of a successful
legal challenge ahead of the new term.
our approach:
Working in partnership with the authority’s in-house legal team
and education department we advised them and the relevant portfolio
holders on the options available to achieve an equitable outcome
for parents and children whilst minimising the potential risk and
cost of a judicial review. After firstly managing the
administrative law risk involved we advised on managing the
admissions appeals process, and represented the authority at the
related appeals.
the results:
A problem, with the potential to be very damaging to the local
authority, was resolved without any legal challenges and without
any parents seeking to challenge the outcome of the appeals. The
affected schools opened for the new academic year without
disruption.