Let's Talk ASN: Free Legal Help for ASN Tribunal Cases in Scotland

Most Scottish parents facing an ASN Tribunal don't know they can get free, qualified legal representation. Not a helpline. Not a factsheet. An actual solicitor, supervised by an education law specialist, working your case at no cost. That service is Let's Talk ASN.

What Is Let's Talk ASN?

Let's Talk ASN is a joint initiative run by Govan Law Centre's Education Law Unit and Barnardo's Scotland, funded by the Scottish Government. It exists for one specific purpose: to provide specialist legal advocacy and representation to parents and young people who have a right of reference to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal for Scotland.

The service is free to use. There is no income test and no means assessment. If you have a live Tribunal reference — or you are considering lodging one — Let's Talk ASN can help you build your case, draft your evidence bundles, and represent you at the hearing itself.

The scope covers the main grounds for Tribunal reference under the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004:

• Refusal to assess for a Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP)
• Refusal to establish a CSP following assessment
• Disputes about the content of an existing CSP
• Placing request refusals where a CSP is held
• Failure to review a CSP within statutory timelines
• Post-school transition planning failures

If your dispute falls into one of these categories, Let's Talk ASN is the first call to make.

Who Can Use It?

The service is available to:

• Parents and carers of children with ASN at any stage of the Tribunal process
• Young people aged 16 and over who hold their own independent rights under the ASL Act (extended by the Education (Scotland) Act 2016)

Note that Let's Talk ASN focuses specifically on Tribunal representation. If your dispute has not yet escalated to that level — for example, if you are still trying to get the school to implement support without the backing of a CSP — you may want to start with Enquire's advice line before approaching Let's Talk ASN. The two services operate alongside each other rather than competing.

Why Does This Matter More Than It Sounds?

Tribunal hearings are formal legal proceedings. A panel of three sits: a legally qualified chair and two specialist members with expertise in education, educational psychology, or social work. The education authority almost always brings its own legal representation. Without equivalent support, parents are at a significant structural disadvantage.

The statistics are encouraging for parents who do get proper representation. In 2023, of the 22 placing request cases heard at Tribunal, parents or young people won 16. That is a success rate of over 70% in contested placing request hearings — a figure that makes the prospect of Tribunal far less daunting than most parents assume.

Despite that, Tribunal applications remain low relative to the scale of the problem. In 2023/24, there were 244 applications in total. Scotland has over 299,000 pupils with an identified ASN. The gap between need and formal challenge is enormous, largely because families do not know services like Let's Talk ASN exist.

What Govan Law Centre Does That Enquire Cannot

Enquire is Scotland's government-funded advice service for additional support for learning. It is excellent for understanding what your rights are in theory. But because it is government-funded, its guidance is deliberately conciliatory — built around collaboration, mediation, and maintaining relationships with schools and authorities.

Let's Talk ASN operates from a fundamentally different position. Govan Law Centre is a solicitor-led organisation. Its Education Law Unit runs strategic litigation at Sheriff Court and Court of Session level. When you work with Let's Talk ASN on a Tribunal case, you are working with people who argue against education authorities for a living.

For parents who have already tried collaboration and been stonewalled, this distinction matters enormously. A well-constructed legal submission, citing the correct provisions of the ASL Act and the Supporting Children's Learning Code of Practice, signals to the authority that the parent understands the law. Authorities settle far more often when they realise the family is properly advised.

How to Access Let's Talk ASN

The service is accessed through Govan Law Centre. Their Education Law Unit can be contacted through the Govan Law Centre website. Given that this is a free specialist service, demand can be high and lead times exist — contact them as early as possible in the process, ideally before lodging the Tribunal reference form.

If you are still at the early stages of a dispute — gathering evidence, deciding whether to request a CSP assessment, or preparing a formal letter to the education authority — the Scotland ASN Appeals Playbook covers the full process from first request through to Tribunal preparation, with templates aligned to the ASL Act 2004.

A Note on Young People Aged 12-15

Let's Talk ASN's free Tribunal representation is available to young people aged 16 and over. Children aged 12-15 hold separate, independently enforceable rights under the ASL Act (as extended in 2016), but a distinct service — My Rights, My Say — handles advocacy and representation specifically for that age group. The two services cover complementary age ranges and are sometimes used together when a case spans a young person's transition from one category to the other.

What to Do Before You Contact Let's Talk ASN

The service operates most effectively when a case is well-documented from the start. Before making contact, it helps to have:

• A written record of all previous requests made to the school and education authority, including dates and the responses received
• Any reports from external professionals — clinical psychologists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists — that connect a diagnosis or identified barrier directly to an educational impact
• A clear account of which statutory ground you believe applies to your case (e.g., refusal to assess, refusal to establish a CSP, inadequate CSP content)
• Evidence that the authority has been given a reasonable opportunity to respond, which helps demonstrate the escalation has been proportionate

You do not need a solicitor to prepare this. You do not need to know the legal arguments in advance — that is what Let's Talk ASN is for. What helps is arriving with organized evidence rather than a folder of unsorted correspondence. The clearer your file, the faster the service can assess the strength of your case and the specific provisions of the ASL Act 2004 that support it.

If your dispute has not yet reached formal Tribunal territory — for example, you are still trying to get the school to acknowledge your child's needs, or you are preparing a first formal letter requesting a CSP assessment — the Scotland ASN Appeals Playbook covers that earlier groundwork, including the letter templates that trigger statutory timelines and the specific statutory language that signals to an authority you understand the law.

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