First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability)

The request was partially successful.

Dear Lancashire County Council,

I would like to know:

· The number of cases Lancashire Local Education Authority has defended in the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) in 2019, 2018 and 2017
· The number of cases at the Tribunal which Lancashire Local Education Authority won, for each of those years
· The amount of money spent by Lancashire Local Education Authority on legal costs for defending cases at the Tribunal, for each of those years

Yours faithfully,

Michael Gaffney

Freedom of Information, Lancashire County Council

Dear Mr Gaffney,

 

Request for Information Under the Freedom of Information Act (2000)

 

We are writing to acknowledge receipt of your enquiry of 31.01.20 in which
you request the disclosure of information.

 

We can confirm that your enquiry will now be assigned to an officer who
will commence a search for the information you require and they will
respond in due course. The deadline date for issuing you with a full
response is 28.02.20. We will endeavour to provide a response well in
advance of this date, however, should we envisage any delays, or require
more details from you, we will contact you immediately.

 

If you have any queries about the above, please do not hesitate to contact
us, quoting ref 984.161 (AO'K).

 

Yours sincerely,

 

On Behalf of the Information Governance Team Lancashire County Council PO
Box 78 County Hall Preston

PR1 8XJ

 

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Freedom of Information, Lancashire County Council

Dear Mr Gaffney,

 

Request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

 

Further to your enquiry of 31 January 2020, in which you request the
disclosure of information under the provisions of the above Act, we are
now in a position to respond.

 

·         Number of cases LCC has defended in the first tier tribunal for 
2017  = 20

·         Number of cases the LA has won = 7

·         Number of cases LCC has defended in the first tier tribunal for 
2018  = 24

·         Number of cases the LA has won = 4

·         Number of cases LCC has defended in the first tier tribunal for 
2019  = 25

·         Number of cases the LA has won = 5

·         The amount of money spent by Lancashire Local Education
Authority on legal costs for defending cases at the Tribunal, for each of
those years. This information is not held in any reportable format by the
county council, as there are no specific costs assigned to attendance at
tribunals and appeals. To calculate the costs for defending cases at
tribunals in any given year would necessitate a manual trawl of the case
files to try to estimate officer time, resources etc. This would incur a
commitment of resources in excess of the limit of £450 set by the Freedom
of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees)
Regulations 2004 (SI No. 3244 of 2004), which equates to 18 hours of work.
Section 12(1) of the Freedom of Information Act provides that a public
authority is not obliged to comply with a request where to do so would
exceed such a limit.

 

Unfortunately, given the way in which the information is held, it is not
possible to suggest a way in which your request could be narrowed in scope
to bring it within the limit explained above whilst still yielding
meaningful results. However, if you wish to resubmit a modified request we
shall of course consider whether it is possible to complete within the
limit.

 

We trust that our response is to your satisfaction, but in the event that
you wish to complain about the manner in which your enquiry has been
handled, you should write in the first instance to The Freedom of
Information Officer, Lancashire County Council, PO Box 78, County Hall,
Preston PR1 8XJ, or email [1][Lancashire County Council request email] and
the matter will be referred to an Information Governance Manager for
review and reconsideration.

 

If, after this stage, you remain dissatisfied, you have the right to refer
the matter to the Information Commissioner, whose contact details are as
follows:

 

The Information Commissioner

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

 

Tel:                   01625 545700

Email:               [2][email address]  

Website:           [3]http://www.ico.org.uk  

 

Your request will now be closed as of this date.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

The Information Governance Team

Lancashire County Council

PO Box 78

County Hall

Preston

PR1 8XJ

 

Email:     [4][Lancashire County Council request email]

 

 

Dear Lancashire County Council,

 

I would like to know:

 

·         The number of cases Lancashire Local Education Authority has
defended in the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and
Disability) in 2019, 2018 and 2017

·         The number of cases at the Tribunal which Lancashire Local
Education Authority won, for each of those years

·         The amount of money spent by Lancashire Local Education
Authority on legal costs for defending cases at the Tribunal, for each of
those years

 

Yours faithfully,

 

Michael Gaffney

 

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