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Rulebook · Way to challenge

Mediation with the council

Mediation is a meeting between you and the council, led by an independent mediator, to try to reach agreement. If health care is part of the disagreement, the health body takes part too. It is your choice whether to have it. If you ask for it, the council must arrange it within 30 days. Where an appeal needs a mediation certificate, you get one afterwards, so you can still appeal if things are not settled.

Who can use it: The parent of a child, or a young person, after an appealable decision, or when a plan is made, amended or replaced. Time limit: The council must arrange mediation within 30 days of being told that mediation is wanted. If only health care is in dispute, the health body must arrange it within 30 days of hearing from the council, which must tell it within 3 working days. Where a mediation certificate is needed before an appeal: if the council cannot arrange mediation within its 30 days, it must tell the mediation adviser as soon as possible, and the adviser issues a certificate within 3 working days of being told, even if mediation takes place later; a certificate is issued within 3 working days after mediation ends; and the appeal deadline is 2 months from the decision letter or 1 month from the certificate, whichever is later. For an appeal only about section I, no certificate is needed, and to be safe the appeal deadline is 2 months from the decision letter or plan: whether a certificate moves it is not settled.

Alongside other ways
Mediation comes before an appeal. If it does not settle everything, you can still appeal within the time limit, with the certificate where one is needed. You can keep talking to the council or complain about other matters at the same time.
Cost
No fee. The council (or the health body, where only health care is in dispute) must arrange the mediation, and the SEND Code of Practice says parents and young people do not have to pay for it. The body arranging it must also pay the parent's or young person's expenses of attending, such as travel, loss of earnings, a registered carer and overnight stays, at the rates and up to the amounts the Regulations set. It can require the expenses to be agreed in advance, or backed by evidence, or both.

What it can do

  • The council can agree to change its decision or the plan, including parts that cannot be appealed, such as outcomes or health and social care sections.
  • If agreement is reached, the Regulations set time limits for the council to act on it.

What it cannot do

  • The mediator does not decide who is right and cannot make anyone agree.
  • It is not an appeal: if there is no agreement, the decision stays as it is unless an appeal is made.
Type of rule
Law (Act or Regulations)This is the law, set by an Act of Parliament or by Regulations.
Rule id
route.mediation
Rules version
england-2026.10
Law as at
30 September 2026

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