West Lothian Council is required by law to set up a committee to consider appeals against the refusal of school placing requests or against exclusion from schools. The committee is called the West Lothian (Placing in Schools) Appeal Committee and is clerked and administered by the council's Legal Services.
In West Lothian, the current practice is for the Placing in Schools Appeal Committee to be made up of 3 members. These are -
one person considered to have experience in education who is acquainted with education in West Lothian (usually a retired head teacher, depute head teacher or principal teacher);
one parent of a child in education at a West Lothian school; and
one elected member of the council (a councillor);
Meetings are held as and when the council receives an appeal request. However, in May and June each year, the number of appeals substantially increases as this is the time of year when multiple appeals are considered for those schools who have received a greater number of applications than there are places available.
The council's Chief Solicitor is responsible for appointing members to the committee. Committee members are appointed to serve the same term of office as councillors (or earlier if they chose to resign or are no longer eligible to be involved).
If you are interested in getting involved in the work of the committee, please read the leaflet below that gives further information about what it does and how it operates. The application form for parent or education experienced members can also be found below.
Applications will be assessed by the Chief Solicitor and successful applicants will be invited to attend a short information session. Successful candidates will be appointed to serve until May 2027, the date of the next local government elections (or earlier if they chose to resign or are no longer eligible to be involved).
If you have any questions about the committee or recruitment process, please e-mail schoolappeals@westlothian.gov.ukor telephone 01506 281609
