Help Shape the Future of SEND Mediation
Help Shape the Future of SEND Mediation
The Civil Mediation Council wants to hear from anyone with a stake in SEND mediation. A new Working Group is launching this October, offering everyone the chance to help shape its purpose and priorities from the inaugural meeting onwards.
The Civil Mediation Council is launching a new SEND Mediation Working Group, creating a collaborative forum for people and organisations with an interest in effective, accessible and high-quality SEND mediation and disagreement resolution.
The Working Group will be separate from the existing CMC and College of Mediators SEND Panel, which retains its important focus on mediator and training-provider standards. The new Working Group will have a broader, sector-facing remit: bringing together experience from across the SEND community, encouraging constructive discussion, sharing good practice and identifying emerging issues, priorities and opportunities for development.
We want the Working Group to reflect the breadth of the SEND sector. SEND mediators and mediation providers are warmly invited to participate, alongside parents, carers and young people, local authorities, SENDIASS services, education settings, health and social care representatives, parent carer forums, voluntary organisations, advocates, legal and advice professionals, professional bodies and others with relevant experience or insight.
The Working Group will be a panel of consistent membership, with satellite hubs of extensive and specific expertise who will have an invitation of representation at each Working Group meeting.
The inaugural meeting will take place on Thursday 15 October 2026, from 11.00 am to 12.30 pm, chaired by CMC Board members Dominic Collis and Adam Gersch.
This first meeting will provide an opportunity to:
• contribute to the development of the Working Group’s purpose and Terms of Reference;
• identify the issues currently affecting SEND mediation and disagreement resolution;
• propose priorities, projects and practical initiatives;
• consider how the Working Group can engage meaningfully with families, young people, practitioners, statutory partners and the wider SEND community;
• and help establish an inclusive and constructive forum capable of supporting sector learning and development.
This is an opportunity to contribute at the outset and help shape a Working Group that is informed by practice, lived experience and the changing SEND landscape.
To register your interest in attending, please email projects@civilmediation.org.
