K v The Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal & Anor

(Transcript of the Handed Down Judgment of WordWave International Ltd A Merrill Communications Company 190 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2AG Tel No: 020 7421 4040 Fax No: 020 7831 8838 Official Shorthand Writers to the Court)

Anne Lawrence (instructed by Fisher Meredith Solicitors) for the Appellant Clive Sheldon (instructed by Legal Services, Hertfordshire County Council) for the Second Respondent The First Respondent did not appear and was not represented. Hearing date: 14 March 2007 ____________________

The dehydration presumably arose from L's difficulty in drinking large amounts of fluid at any one time: see page 9 of Ms Blit's report. It can be seen that Ms Blit's view relating to travel was very qualified and conditional ("if it causes stress"). She did not advise that travel to Lonsdale School was inappropriate.

Her assumption of the duration of the journey was, given the Tribunal's finding, mistaken, by a considerable amount. Clearly, this affected the reliability of her conclusion: indeed, on one view, her evidence was inapplicable to a journey time of 2 hours.

The case here was that a 24-hour curriculum was necessary for L to put into practice what he had learnt. See too paragraph 18: