Form SEND30 Witness Summons UK: How to Apply

At a glance

• What it does: Form SEND30 asks a Tribunal Judge or Registrar to issue a witness summons under rule 16 of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008.
• Who can apply: Any party to the appeal, or their representative. The Tribunal can also summon a witness on its own initiative, without any party applying.
• The legal test: The tribunal must be satisfied the witness has relevant evidence to give and that attendance cannot reasonably be secured by other means.
• Notice period: A summons must give the witness at least 14 days' notice of the hearing, unless the Tribunal directs a shorter period (rule 16(2)(a)).
• What can't be compelled: No one can be summonsed to give evidence or produce a document they could not be compelled to give or produce at a trial in an ordinary court (rule 16(3)).
• Non-compliance: A failure to comply can be referred to the Upper Tribunal, which holds the same powers as the High Court over witnesses under section 25 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (rule 7(3)).
• Fee: SEND tribunal appeals, and the procedural steps within them, are not subject to a court fee — but check the current position with the tribunal office before you apply.

What this document is

A witness summons is an order from the tribunal requiring a named individual to attend a hearing and give evidence. In the SEND tribunal context, it is requested using Form SEND30, and the tribunal's power to issue one comes from rule 16 of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008. Rule 16(1) allows the Tribunal, on the application of a party or on its own initiative, to summon any person to attend as a witness at a hearing at the time and place specified, or to order a person to answer questions or produce documents relevant to the proceedings.

Once issued, the summons instructs the person to attend and be examined before the panel. Rule 16(4) requires the summons itself to state that the person may apply to the Tribunal to vary or set aside the summons if they have not had an opportunity to object to it, and to state the consequences of failing to comply — so the document is deliberately explicit about what is at stake for the witness.

Most witnesses attend voluntarily when asked politely and given reasonable notice, so a summons is usually a last resort. It tends to come up where a professional, such as a teacher, therapist or local authority officer, has relevant knowledge but has declined to attend, or where an employer will only release someone if formally required to do so.

The tribunal decides whether to grant the summons, so your application needs to show that the witness has something genuinely useful to say, that asking them to attend is reasonable, and that you have already tried to secure their attendance through ordinary means. There is one hard limit worth knowing in advance: rule 16(3) provides that no person may be compelled to give evidence, or produce a document, that they could not be compelled to give or produce at a trial in a court of law. This mirrors ordinary civil evidence rules — for example, material genuinely protected by legal professional privilege generally cannot be forced out through a tribunal summons any more than it could through a court witness order.

Who can apply, and what the tribunal actually decides

Rule 16(1) is drafted broadly: a summons can be issued "on the application of a party or on its own initiative." In a SEND appeal that means the parent, the young person appealing in their own right, the local authority, or any of their representatives can apply — and, separately, the Tribunal itself can decide unprompted that a summons is needed, for example if it becomes clear during case management that a key professional witness has not confirmed attendance.

When you apply, the Tribunal Judge or Registrar is weighing three things in substance, even though the rule does not spell them out as a numbered test:

1. Relevance. Does the witness have evidence that actually bears on a disputed issue in the appeal — the child's needs, the provision required, or the placement — rather than general character evidence or something already fully covered in the papers?
2. Necessity. Is personal attendance genuinely needed, or would a written statement, or evidence by phone or video link, do the job just as well?
3. Proportionality of compulsion. Have you already tried, and failed, to secure voluntary attendance? A summons that arrives as the first request to a witness, with no prior correspondence, is far more likely to be questioned.

How to use this document

1. Confirm the witness is essential. Before filling in the form, be clear about what the witness will actually say and why the panel needs to hear it. Generic character evidence is rarely enough. The tribunal will want to see that the testimony is relevant to a disputed issue in your appeal, such as a child's needs, provision or placement.
2. Ask the witness directly first. Write to the person you want to call, explain the hearing date and what you hope they can speak to, and ask whether they will attend voluntarily or give evidence by phone or video link. Keep a copy of this correspondence, because the tribunal will usually expect to see that you have tried this step before compelling attendance.
3. Complete Form SEND30 carefully. The form asks for your appeal number, your name and status in the appeal, and full details of the witness: title, first name, surname, address, postcode and occupation. It also asks you to tick which of the following applies — that the witness has refused to attend, has already provided a statement, or has been asked to provide evidence another way (such as by phone or videolink) — and to set out in your own words why their personal attendance at the final hearing is necessary and why the evidence they can give matters.
4. Attach supporting material. Include any emails, letters or notes that show you have asked the witness to attend and they have refused or failed to respond. If there is correspondence from an employer or organisation refusing to release the witness, include that too. The stronger the paper trail, the easier it is for the tribunal to grant the request.
5. Serve the summons in good time. If the tribunal agrees to issue the summons, rule 16(2)(a) requires that it give the witness at least 14 days' notice of the hearing, unless the Tribunal directs a shorter period. Build in time for the tribunal to consider your application, for the document to be issued, and for you to deliver it. Leaving this to the last minute is a common reason summonses fail to achieve anything before the hearing date.
6. Cover the witness's expenses where required. Rule 16(2)(b) requires that, where the person summonsed is not a party to the appeal, the summons make provision for their necessary expenses of attendance to be paid, and state who is to pay them. Be ready to address this in your application if you are asking for a non-party witness to be compelled.

If the witness still does not attend

A witness summons is not self-enforcing in the sense of automatically producing a penalty — but ignoring one is genuinely risky for the witness, and the tribunal has real teeth behind it. Under rule 7(3) of the 2008 Rules, the First-tier Tribunal can refer a person's failure to attend, give evidence, swear an oath, or produce a document as required, to the Upper Tribunal. The Upper Tribunal can then use its power under section 25 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, which gives it — in relation to the attendance and examination of witnesses and the production of documents — the same powers, rights, privileges and authority as the High Court. That is the route through which non-compliance can ultimately be treated as contempt.

Separately, rule 7(1) and 7(2) give the First-tier Tribunal its own more everyday case-management options for any procedural failure, including a failure connected to a witness: it can waive the requirement, require the failure to be remedied, or take other action it considers just. In practice, if a summoned witness fails to appear on the day, the panel is more likely to adjourn or proceed without them than to immediately trigger a referral to the Upper Tribunal — the formal enforcement route exists as a backstop for genuinely persistent non-compliance, not as the first response to a single missed hearing.

This dual structure is worth explaining to a reluctant witness in plain terms: the practical consequence on the day may just be an adjournment, but the formal legal consequence of ignoring a tribunal summons can escalate to the same enforcement powers a court has over its own witnesses.

Costs

There is no tribunal fee to bring a SEND appeal, and the SEND30 application sits within that same fee-free process. Fee rules can change, so confirm the current position with the tribunal office (send@justice.gov.uk, 0300 303 5857) before you apply if anything about your situation is out of the ordinary. Separately from any tribunal fee, remember that rule 16(2)(b) requires provision to be made for a non-party witness's necessary expenses of attendance — so budget for that if you are asking the tribunal to compel someone who is not a party to the appeal.

This guide provides general information about requesting a witness summons in SEND tribunal proceedings in England. It is not legal advice and is not a substitute for advice tailored to your specific circumstances. The law described was accurate as at August 2026 and is subject to change — always check GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk for the most current position, and contact the tribunal office directly if you are unsure how a rule applies to your appeal.

Last reviewed: August 2026 by a non-practising solicitor · Next review due: August 2027 or on legislative change.