The Education (Pupil Exclusions and Appeals) (Maintained Schools) (Wales) Regulations 2003

Regulation 7

SCHEDULE CONSTITUTION AND PROCEDURE OF APPEAL PANELS

Time limits and notices waiving right to appeal

1.—(1) No appeal under regulation 7(1) against a decision not to reinstate a pupil may be made after the fifteenth school day after the day on which the relevant person is given notice in writing under regulation 6(6)(b).

(2) For the purpose of calculating the period referred to in sub-paragraph (1), the notice is to be taken to have been given —

(a) where first class post is used, on the second working day after the date of posting, or

(b) where the notice is delivered by hand, on the date of delivery,

unless in either case the contrary is shown.

(3) Subject to sub-paragraph (4), any notice in writing given by the relevant person to the local education authority which states that he or she does not intend to appeal against a decision not to reinstate the pupil is final.

(4) Where the relevant person is both a pupil of compulsory school age who was aged 11 or above on the day before the beginning of the school year in which that pupil is excluded and a parent of his or hers, a notice in writing given under sub-paragraph (3) by a parent will be treated as final whether or not the pupil has given such notice in writing.

Constitution of appeal panels

2.—(1) An appeal pursuant to arrangements made by a local education authority under regulation 7(1) is to be to an appeal panel constituted in accordance with this paragraph.

(2) An appeal panel is to consist of three or five members appointed by the local education authority from —

(a) persons who are eligible to be lay members;

(b) persons who are currently working in education or education management; and

(c) persons who are or have been governors of maintained schools, provided they have served as a governor for at least twelve consecutive months within the last six years and have not been teachers or head teachers during the last five years.

(3) Of the members of an appeal panel —

(a) where it consists of three members one must be appointed from each of the three categories in sub-paragraph (2);

(b) where it consists of five members —

(i) one must be a person who is eligible to be a lay member and is appointed as such;

(ii) two must be persons falling within sub-paragraph (2)(b); and

(iii) two must be persons falling within sub-paragraph (2)(c).

(4) For the purposes of this paragraph and paragraph 4 a person is eligible to be a lay member if he or she is a person without personal experience in the management of any school or the provision of education in any school (disregarding any such experience as a governor or in any other voluntary capacity).

(5) Sufficient persons may be appointed by the local education authority under this paragraph to enable two or more appeal panels to sit at the same time.

(6) No person may be a member of an appeal panel if he or she is disqualified by virtue of sub-paragraph (7).

(7) The following persons are disqualified for membership of an appeal panel —

(a) any member of the local education authority or of the governing body of the school in question;

(b) the head teacher of, or any teacher at, the school in question or any person who has held any such position within the previous five years;

(c) any person employed by the local education authority other than as a head teacher or a teacher;

(d) any person who has, or at any time has had, any connection with —

(i) the local education authority or the school, or with any person within paragraph (b) or (c), or

(ii) the pupil in question or the incident leading to his or her exclusion,

of a kind which might reasonably be taken to raise doubts about his or her ability to act impartially.

(8) A person employed by the local education authority as a head teacher or a teacher is not to be taken, by reason only of that employment, to have such a connection with the authority as is mentioned in sub-paragraph (7)(d).

(9) Where, at any time after an appeal panel consisting of five members has begun to consider an appeal, any of the members —

(a) dies, or

(b) becomes unable through illness to continue as a member,

the panel may continue with their consideration and determination of the appeal so long as the number of the remaining members is not less than three and the requirements of sub-paragraph (3)(a) are satisfied.

(10) An appeal panel must be chaired by the person appointed as a lay member.

Allowances for members

3.—(1) For the purpose of the payment of financial loss allowance under section 173(4) of the Local Government Act 1972(1) that provision is to apply to any member of an appeal panel constituted in accordance with paragraph 2; and in that section as it so applies the reference to an approved duty is to be read as a reference to attendance at a meeting of an appeal panel.

(2) Section 174(1) of that Act is to apply in relation to an appeal panel constituted in accordance with paragraph 2 and in that section as it so applies the reference to payments at rates determined by the body in question is to be read as a reference to payments at rates determined by the local education authority.

Duty to advertise for lay members

4.—(1) Any local education authority who are required to make arrangements under regulation 7(1) must, at the intervals specified in sub-paragraph (2), secure the publication of an advertisement for lay members of appeal panels constituted by that authority.

(2) An advertisement must be published before the end of the three year period starting when the last advertisement was issued under the Education (Lay Members of Appeal Committees) Regulations 1994(2) and thereafter in every three year period following the date upon which an advertisement (or the final advertisement of a series of advertisements) was last published in accordance with this paragraph.

(3) The advertisement referred to in sub-paragraph (1) must —

(a) identify by name, class, or general description the schools served by the appeal panels to which the advertisement relates;

(b) be placed in at least one local newspaper circulating in the area in which the schools identified in the advertisement are situated;

(c) allow a period of at least 21 days from the date of publication of the advertisement for replies.

(4) Before appointing any lay member the local education authority must consider any persons eligible to be so appointed who have applied to the authority in response to the most recent advertisement or series of advertisements placed in accordance with this paragraph indicating that they wish to be considered for such appointment.

Indemnity

5.  Any local education authority required to make arrangements under regulation 7(1) must indemnify the members of any appeal panel required to be constituted for the purposes of those arrangements against any reasonable legal costs and expenses reasonably incurred by those members in connection with any decision or action taken by them in good faith in pursuance of their functions as members of that panel.

Procedure on an appeal

6.  In the following provisions of this Schedule “appeal” means an appeal under regulation 7(1) and “the closing date for appeals” means the fifteenth school day after the day on which the appeal is lodged.

7.  An appeal must be by notice in writing setting out the grounds on which it is made.

8.—(1) The appeal panel must meet to consider an appeal on such date as the local education authority may determine.

(2) The date so determined must not be later than the closing date for appeals.

9.—(1) For the purpose of fixing the time (in accordance with paragraph 8) at which the hearing of an appeal is to take place, the local education authority must take reasonable steps to ascertain any times falling on or before the closing date for appeals when —

(a) the relevant person, or

(b) any other person who wishes, and would be entitled, to appear and make oral representations in accordance with paragraph 10,

would be unable to attend.

(2) Where in accordance with sub-paragraph (1) the local education authority have ascertained any such times in the case of any such person, they must, when fixing the time at which the hearing is to take place, take those times into account with a view to ensuring, so far as it is reasonably practicable to do so, that that person is able to appear and make such representations at the hearing.

10.—(1) The appeal panel must allow the relevant person and the excluded pupil where the pupil is not the relevant person to make written representations, to appear and make oral representations and to be represented at the hearing or accompanied by a friend.

(2) The panel must also allow —

(a) the head teacher to make written representations, to be represented and to appear and make oral representations,

(b) the local education authority to make written representations, to be represented and to appear and make oral representations, and

(c) the governing body to make written representations, to be represented and to appear and make oral representations.

(3) The appeal panel may from time to time adjourn the hearing.

11.  Appeals must be heard in private; but —

(a) if the panel so direct, one member of the local education authority may attend, as an observer, any hearing of an appeal by an appeal panel; and

(b) one member of the Council on Tribunals may attend, as an observer, any meeting of an appeal panel at which an appeal is considered.

12.  Two or more appeals may be combined and dealt with in the same proceedings if the appeal panel consider that it is expedient to do so because the issues raised by the appeals are the same or connected.

13.  In the event of a disagreement between the members of an appeal panel, the appeal under consideration is to be decided by a simple majority of the votes cast and, in the case of an equality of votes, the chair of the panel is to have a second or casting vote.

14.  The decision of an appeal panel and the grounds on which it is made must —

(a) be communicated by the panel in writing to the relevant person, the local education authority, the governing body and the head teacher, and

(b) be so communicated by the end of the second working day after the conclusion of the hearing of the appeal.

15.—(1) Subject to paragraphs 7 to 14, all matters relating to the procedure on appeals must be determined by the local education authority.

(2) The local education authority must, in setting any time limits in connection with appeals, have regard to the desirability of securing that appeals are disposed of without delay.

16.  In paragraphs 1(2) and 14 “working day” means a day other than a Saturday, a Sunday, Christmas Day, Good Friday or a day which is a bank holiday within the meaning of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971(3).

(1)

1972 c. 70.

(2)

S.I. 1994/1303.

(3)

1971 c. 80.