My Account issues

If you are asked to add a service that you already have access to, please do not try to add the service or request a PIN. We hope to resolve the issue soon and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Disagreement Resolution, Mediation and Appeals

Wherever possible Oldham Council and/or Health Commissioners will try and resolve issues or areas of disagreement by meeting and talking with those involved in supporting children and young people with special educational needs and/or disabilities.  

This includes not only the parents and carers but also the children and young people themselves.

SEND Mediation and Disagreement Resolution provides parents and young people with access to an independent disagreement resolution service:      

Whether or not you use a disagreement resolution service is completely optional.

EHC plans and statements  

If your child has a statement and you are not happy about what is in it your rights of appeal remain as they are now.

If your child has an EHC Plan (or is being assessed for one) and your not happy about the section on education your rights of appeal remain the same. However, in addition, you will be required to consider mediation before progressing your appeal to a Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.

Mediation is optional. However, you will need to let a mediation advisor know that you do not wish to undergo mediation so that a certificate can be issued.

Mediation is not necessary if the appeal to Tribunal is about disability discrimination or about a dispute over whether a child should go to a particular school or placement.

If your child has child has an EHC Plan (or is being assessed for one) and your not happy about the sections on health or social care then you can still appeal against the local authority. This is because the local authority is still responsible for special educational provision.

However, if you are not happy about the social care and/or health sections of your EHC Plan then you will need to pursue the matter separately.

You can still ask for support from a disagreement resolution service or mediation with the health or social care provider to try and resolve the complaint.

Section 11 of the new SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years has more information about the different ways you can make a complaint, depending on what the complaint is about.