Scottish Human Rights Law Group

The mother of a severely disabled child made an out of area placing request. The authority refused her request, which was then referred to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal on appeal. The tribunal determined that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the reference. The mother’s appeal to the Outer House was refused. The Lord Ordinary held that, having regard to the provisions of the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004, the tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear a reference in relation to a decision of an education authority regarding a placement request where that authority was not the authority responsible for the education of the child, nor was it the authority for the area in which the child resided, nor an authority that had assumed responsibility for the child’s education.    The appellant reclaimed but the Inner House refused the reclaiming motion holding that the 2004 Act did not make and should not be construed as making any provision, in respect of a child with additional support needs who required a co-ordinated support plan, for the making of a placing request to any education authority who were not responsible for the child’s school education, or for a reference to the tribunal of a refusal by such an authority of such a request while denying that construing the 2004 Act in this way (as excluding any right of a parent of a child with additional support needs who required a co-ordinated support plan to challenge the refusal of an out of area placing request before the tribunal) created an anomalous result.