Lawyers were paid almost £900,000 by Norfolk County Council to defend decisions over school places for children - only for judges to back parents in the majority of cases.
Parents appealed more than 350 decisions by County Hall over school placements for youngsters with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in 2023.
Of the 291 so far dealt with, the majority were concluded without requiring a tribunal hearing, with the Conservative-controlled authority agreeing to meet the parents' requests in 244 cases.
Of the 47 which went before judges, 30 found in favour of the children, eight were partially dismissed/allowed, six were dismissed and three were struck out.
Critics blasted a system which leaves parents and children stressed, yet leads to ever-increasing payments to lawyers.
The 2023/24 figure of £890,000 in legal fees compares to £500,000 in 2022, while the number of appeals has soared to 359, compared to just 46 in 2015/16.
The disagreements which trigger appeals are often over whether the child goes to a mainstream school or a specialist one.
Norfolk County Council has been spending £120m on new special schools, including in Great Yarmouth, Fakenham and Easton, with plans for more.
But council bosses say existing special schools face "significant pressure", while it anticipates an even higher number of appeals in 2024.
That could mean legal fees top £1m, at a time when the council faces having to make another £45m of cuts and savings.
Maxine Webb, independent county councillor for Norwich's Wensum division, said there needed to be changes to stop money being "squandered".
She said: "We need to look at how this whole system works. Admissions to schools for children with special educational needs has become admission by tribunal and that cannot be right.
"I do have sympathy with the council, but there have been recommendations made to local authorities and I haven't seen evidence of Norfolk implementing any of them.
"Nothing will change while the council chooses to carry on lawyering up and battling stressed, despairing parents, rather than working with them to help put in place the support their children need.
"It's cruel, nonsensical and inept."
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The council says it has doubled the number of funded special school places since 2014, up from 1,169 to 2,423 and has created new specialist resource bases.
Penny Carpenter, cabinet member for children's services, said the council was transforming support, with more than 2,000 extra specialist places.
She said: "However, a key part of the strategy is to support inclusion in mainstream schools, as we know most children achieve better outcomes in their local schools, alongside their friends.
"We are wrapping support around schools with our new school and community teams and are using the skills of our special schools to provide expertise to their mainstream colleagues.
"This strategy will take time to bear fruit and, currently, our special schools are facing significant pressure.
"They have limited space, and we have to balance whether to offer a place at a school with the likely impact on the school’s existing children.
"This can result in parents taking us to tribunal, which is not something we ever want.
"We continue to press the government on reforming the education system, so that it is more inclusive of children with special educational needs and the level of funding recognises the significantly increased demand.
"We would hope any national reforms consider the tribunal process."
The county council signed a "safety valve" agreement with the government in March last year, getting £70m for education services and support for SEND children up until 2029.
The bailout was to cover the deficit the council accrued amid a rising number of children needing specialist provision or extra support.
But, just a few months after the agreement was signed, the council told the Department for Education its scheme was "off track" and was likely to have an £11.8m deficit in 2028/29.
Last month, the council told schools it was changing funding for children with special educational needs, which means some schools will get less than anticipated.
Angry school chiefs wrote to the council warning that could lead to "significant redundancies" and a spike in exclusions of children.
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