Written questions by Jermy.

How many parents or young people have taken Norfolk City Council to appeal at a tribunal against an Education, Care and Health Plan decision in each of the last five years; and what (a) number and (b) proportion of those appeals were (i) determined in favour of the appellants, (ii) determined in favour of the local authority, (iii) withdrawn, (iv) conceded before the hearing and (v) still awaiting a hearing.

Information about appeal outcomes to SEND is published at: Tribunals statistics quarterly: July to September 2024 - GOV.UK.Appeal outcomes are not broken down by Local Authority in the routinely published data as requested in this PQ. These data are provided for academic years September to August as follows:Norfolk City(1) Council2019-202020-212021-222022-232023-24(i) Number and proportion of those appeals determined in favour of the appellants68 76%161 67%165 67%219 70%281 56%(ii) Number and proportion of those appeals determined in favour of the local authority(2)1 1%3 1%4 2%8 3%5 1%(iii) Number and proportion of withdrawn appeals12 13%50 21%52 21%35 11%54 11%(iv) Number and proportion of appeals conceded before the hearing6 7%22 9%22 9%49 16%48 10%(v) Number and proportion of appeals still awaiting a hearing0 0%0 0%0 0%0 0%2 1%Total number of appeals to the tribunal(3)89241246315502 1. Data for Norfolk is held locally as Norfolk County Council.2. (ii) is the total of cases where the appellant wins the majority of the appeal (i.e. the appellant may be successful in 2 out of the 3 sections they appeal against).3. In addition to the categories requested appeals can be struck out. This is included in the total number of appeals.The information provided has been extracted from local management information.

What information her Department holds on the number of education, health and care plan tribunals that were lost by Norfolk County Council in each year since 2019.

Information about appeal outcomes to SEND is published at: Tribunals statistics quarterly: July to September 2024 - GOV.UK.Appeal outcomes are not broken down by Local Authority in the routinely published data as requested in this PQ. These data are provided for academic years September to August as follows:Norfolk City(1) Council2019-202020-212021-222022-232023-24(i) Number and proportion of those appeals determined in favour of the appellants68 76%161 67%165 67%219 70%281 56%(ii) Number and proportion of those appeals determined in favour of the local authority(2)1 1%3 1%4 2%8 3%5 1%(iii) Number and proportion of withdrawn appeals12 13%50 21%52 21%35 11%54 11%(iv) Number and proportion of appeals conceded before the hearing6 7%22 9%22 9%49 16%48 10%(v) Number and proportion of appeals still awaiting a hearing0 0%0 0%0 0%0 0%2 1%Total number of appeals to the tribunal(3)89241246315502 1. Data for Norfolk is held locally as Norfolk County Council.2. (ii) is the total of cases where the appellant wins the majority of the appeal (i.e. the appellant may be successful in 2 out of the 3 sections they appeal against).3. In addition to the categories requested appeals can be struck out. This is included in the total number of appeals.The information provided has been extracted from local management information.

What steps she is taking to tackle the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) backlog in (a) England and (b) South West Norfolk constituency.

Although the First-tier Tribunal (SEND) has responded well to the significant increase in appeals it has experienced in recent years, we acknowledge that more needs to be done to reduce the time parents and young people have to wait to have their appeals determined. An additional 70 judges have been recruited for this chamber and began sitting from September 2024, with further recruitment scheduled.The pressures facing the Tribunal are indicative of wider pressures in the SEND system. We are working with the Department for Education in the longer term to reduce the demands on the tribunal so that the outstanding caseload, and the time within which the tribunal can determine appeals, reduces in accordance with our key performance indicators.