Christian J Howells successful in Court of Appeal ALN case

May 27 2025

The Court of Appeal has held that parents do not have the right to be accompanied by a solicitor at an IDP review meeting under the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018.  Transcript here.

On a natural reading of s.23 and s.6 of the Act, there was no statutory entitlement for a parent to be accompanied by a solicitor (or other lawyer) of the parent's choosing at an IDP review meeting. The arrangements for the conduct of the review, including who should attend the meeting, were matters for decision by the local authority. In exercising that discretion, and in reaching its decisions on how the review, and any meeting forming part of that review, should be conducted, the local authority had to have regard to the factors in s.6, any relevant guidance in the Code of Additional Learning Needs and any other relevant factors. However, none of the provisions of the Code went so far as to amount to guidance, still less a requirement, that a parent could be accompanied by an advocate of their choice (see paras 49-52, 54 of judgment).

Furthermore, the conduct of a review was separate from, and did not form part of, the arrangements for avoiding disagreements made under s.68 and s.69 of the Act. The fact that an IDP review might help or result in local authorities and parents agreeing on the appropriate additional learning provision for a child did not mean that the review was provided as part of the arrangements made with a view to avoiding disagreements between education bodies and parents (para.53). 

Christian was instructed by Zoe James of Vale of Glamorgan Legal Services.