Children and Families Act 2014

53 Mediation: health care issues

(1) This section applies where—

(a) the parent or young person informs the local authority under section 52 that he or she wishes to pursue mediation, and

(b) the mediation issues include health care provision specified in the plan or the fact that no health care provision, or no health care provision of a particular kind, is specified in the plan.

(2) The local authority must notify each relevant commissioning body of—

(a) the mediation issues, and

(b) anything of which it has been informed by the parent or young person under section 52(4).

(3) If the mediation issues are limited to the health care provision specified in the plan or the fact that no health care provision, or no health care provision of a particular kind, is specified in the plan, the responsible commissioning body (or, where there is more than one, the responsible commissioning bodies acting jointly) must—

(a) arrange for mediation between it (or them) and the parent or young person,

(b) ensure that the mediation is conducted by an independent person, and

(c) participate in the mediation.

(4) If the mediation issues include anything else—

(a) the local authority must—

(i) arrange for mediation between it, each responsible commissioning body and the parent or young person,

(ii) ensure that the mediation is conducted by an independent person, and

(iii) participate in the mediation, and

(b) each responsible commissioning body must also participate in the mediation.

(5) For the purposes of this section, a person is not independent if he or she is employed by any of the following—

(a) a local authority in England;

(b) a clinical commissioning group;

(c) the National Health Service Commissioning Board.

(6) In this section “responsible commissioning body”—

(a) if the mediation issues in question are or include the health care provision specified in an EHC plan, means a body that is under a duty to arrange health care provision of that kind in respect of the child or young person;

(b) if the mediation issues in question are or include the fact that no health care provision, or no health care provision of a particular kind, is specified in an EHC plan, means a body that would be under a duty to arrange health care provision of the kind in question if it were specified in the plan.