Legal terms

Within the Local Offer a lot of the legal terms are around appeals and tribunals. This is a whole new world for parents.

Explain the law in context

Here's a typical example from a Local Offer:

SEN Mediation Service

If parents or young people have a disagreement with Harrow Council over Education, Health and Care Plans they can contact the SEN Mediation Service.

Harrow Council commissions KIDS to manage this service. Parents and young people can use this service before deciding whether to contest decisions officially. The official process takes place via an appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal.

There are 6 points to make here:

1. have a disagreement = disagree
2. SEN Mediation Service - what is this? Explain it.
3. commissions - what does this mean?
4. KIDS - who? (In case you don't know, it's a charity that supports disabled children)
5. contest decisions officially - what does this mean?
6. appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal - what on earth is this? Explain this here, or at least link to the page about this.

It's true that explaining these things will take more words. But it will also mean that all users will understand what the process is, and what to do if it does not work for them.

📝  Look some of the legal pages in your Local Offer. Try and make them more clear and show us the before and after in the discussion.