| Description | Summary of main findings |
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| ISBN | |
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| Official Print Publication Date | April 2007 |
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| Website Publication Date | April 02, 2007 |
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CONCLUSIONS
The Executive's main proposals to reform Education Appeal Committees, contained in the consultation paper, were that the Executive:
- produced basic information for appellants;
- published guidance on procedures around, and at, Education Appeal Committee hearings;
- addressed the issue of the composition of EAC panels through guidance; and
- funded the production of national training materials for EAC panel members, to be delivered and supplemented by local authorities.
There was generally support from respondents for these proposals, with additional comments on how exactly they should be taken forward or implemented. There was also a consistent view that Education Appeal Committees were still an appropriate means for hearing appeals relating to placing requests and exclusions, although there was a general view that this was reliant on EACs been improved. However there were equally strong, and distinct, views on whether or not there was a better way of dealing with these appeals.
18 respondents believed that the rules on who can sit on an EAC panel should be changed, whilst 18 did not. There was a clear divide between the view that the current arrangements were appropriate, and the view, often strongly expressed, that councillors should not be able to sit on an EAC panel.