Children and Families Act (CFA) 2014

This is one of the main sources of law we refer to on our website. It sets out many of the legal protections and rights for children and young people with special educational needs and includes important information, including:

• special educational needs and provision definitions
• when local authorities (LAs) must carry out EHC needs assessments and issue EHC plans 
• when EHC plans must be reviewed
• your right to request a particular placement in an EHC plan
• important mediation and appeal rights, and
• the duty on certain settings to support those with medical needs.

The SEND Regulations 2014 sit underneath this Act and tell LAs and settings what they need to do to comply with the law.  

All the duties contained in this Act must be complied with – it is the law. If your LA or school is not following it, you can contact us for support.