CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Complaining when a local authority does not send a draft or final Education, Health and Care plan on time (template letter 10)

What are the deadlines for the local authority to send out a draft and a final Education, Health and Care plan?

A local authority (LA) is required to finalise the Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan as soon as practicable but in any event within 20 weeks of the initial request for assessment.

There is no deadline in the law for when they must send out the draft EHC plan, but after they send out the draft they are obliged to give the parent or young person time to make representations about the content of the EHC plan, and then to consult with any school or college the parent or young person wishes to be named in the EHC plan. In order to do both of these things and then finalise the EHC plan within the 20 week time limit, they should send out the draft plan within 14 weeks of the request for assessment.

Are there exceptions to the time limit?

There are some circumstances in which an LA may not be required to comply with the 20 week time limit if it would be impractical for it to do so. These are where:

(a) the LA requested advice as part of the EHC needs assessment from the nursery, school or college attended by the child or young person during a time when it was closed for a period of longer than 4 weeks (i.e. in the summer holidays), or in the week immediately before such a closure, and this delayed the process;

(b) exceptional personal circumstances affect the child or the child’s parent, or the young person, during that time period; or

(d) the child or the child’s parent, or the young person, were absent from the LA’s area for a continuous period of not less than 4 weeks during that time period.

If one of the exceptions applies, the local authority will only be able to rely on it if it can show that sending the draft or final EHC plan on time would be impractical because of the exception. The LA is still required to send out the EHC plan as soon as practicable

Additionally, it may take longer than 20 weeks if the LA initially refused to assess or refused to issue an EHC plan, but then are ordered to do so by the SEND Tribunal.

  • If the LA refused to carry out an EHC needs assessment but then are ordered to do so by the SEND Tribunal, they must start the assessment within 2 weeks of the date of the order. They must then either decide not to issue an EHC plan within 10 weeks, or issue a final EHC plan within 14 weeks of the date of the order.
  • If the LA carried out an EHC needs assessment but refused to issue an EHC plan, and are then ordered to issue a plan by the SEND Tribunal, they must issue the draft plan within 5 weeks, and the final plan within 11 weeks of the date of the order. 

The above deadlines also apply if the LA initially refused to assess or issue an EHC plan, but then agreed to do so at mediation (unless you agreed a different deadline at mediation). 

If the LA agreed to carry out an EHC needs assessment or issue an EHC plan during an appeal to the SEND Tribunal, we have a different template letter you can use if the LA does not do this in time.

When should I complain?

You should complain as soon as the 14 week (for a draft plan) or 20 week (for a final plan) time limit has expired.

It is very important for the LA to send a draft EHC plan before they finalise the plan, so that the parent or young person has a chance to comment on the contents of the plan. See our page on draft EHC plans for more information.

Who should I write to?

You can use this letter to write to the top person at the LA, usually the Director of Children’s Services. You can find this information and contact details for this person by clicking here. It may help to copy in the LA’s monitoring officer, your ward councillor, and the LA case worker or officer you have been dealing with as well.

Your LA’s Local Offer should clearly set out how a formal complaint can be made in its complaints procedure. This can be found on your LA’s website. You should follow the LA’s complaints procedure as well as writing to the Director of Children’s Services. See our making a complaint about a LA page for more information.

Remember to keep a copy of any letter or email you send.

If you don’t get a reply after five working days, or if you need further advice, you can book an advice line appointment with IPSEA.