Get information and support Free legal guides and template letters Template letters Template letter 10a and 10b CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: Letter to LA when it delays concluding the EHC needs assessment (template letter 10a) CLICK TO DOWNLOAD: letter to LA when it concludes the EHC needs assessment but does not send a draft or final EHC plan on time (template letter 10b) These template letters are for general advice purposes and will need to be tailored to your own individual circumstances. Please read all of the information on this page and, if possible, we recommend you take advice on using these letters. What are the deadlines for the local authority to conclude an Education, Health and Care needs assessment and send out a draft and a final Education, Health and Care plan? Once a local authority (LA) has agreed to carry out an education, health and care (EHC) needs assessment), that assessment must be concluded in one of two ways and by certain deadlines, as set out below: If Then following the EHC needs assessment, your LA decides that it is not necessary to issue an EHC plan it must tell you as soon as practicable, and in any event within 16 weeks of: the LA receiving a request for an EHC needs assessment, or the LA becoming responsible for the child or young person, if that triggered the EHC needs assessment instead. This is set out in Regulation 10(1) of The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 (The SEND Regulations 2014). following the EHC needs assessment, your LA decides that it is necessary to issue an EHC plan it is required to send out a copy of the finalised EHC plan as soon as practicable, but in any event, within 20 weeks of: the LA receiving the request for an EHC needs assessment, the LA becoming responsible for the child or young person, if that triggered the assessment instead. This is set out in Regulation 13(2) of The SEND Regulations 2014. What about draft plans? Before your LA issues the final EHC plan, it must send to you a draft plan first. This is important because on receipt of a draft EHC plan you have certain rights. There is no deadline in the law for when an LA must send out a draft EHC plan, but your LA must give you time to exercise your rights, and it must consult (where required in law) with the school or college you wish to be named in the final EHC plan. In order to do both of these things and then finalise the EHC plan within the 20 week time limit, we suggest your LA should send out the draft plan within 14 weeks of receiving the request for an EHC needs assessment (or of the LA becoming responsible for the child or young person). When might the time limit be different? There are only two times the 16 or 20 week deadline may be different. These are where: meeting it is not practical due to limited reasons, or the deadline doesn’t apply due to decisions made in mediation or by the SEND Tribunal. Here we explain these, and how that affects the time limit. If Then it would be impractical for your LA to meet the legal deadline because: the LA requested advice as part of the EHC needs assessment from the nursery, school or college your child or you as a young person goes to during a time when it was closed for a period of longer than 4 weeks (for example, in the summer holidays), or in the week immediately before such a closure, and this delayed the process exceptional personal circumstances affect you or your child, or you as a young person, during that time period, or you or your child, or you as a young person, were absent from the LA’s area for a continuous period of not less than 4 weeks during that time period your LA is required to send out the EHC plan as soon as practicable. Please know that your LA will only be able to rely on one of these reasons if it can show that one of the exceptions exists and sending the draft or final EHC plan on time would be impractical because of the exception. Staff shortages are never a legal reason for the deadline to be different or missed your LA initially refused to carry out an EHC needs assessment or issue an EHC plan, but: you requested mediation and your LA changed its mind in mediation, or you appealed this decision and the SEND Tribunal ordered the LA to carry out the assessment or issue the EHC plan Different timescales apply. Please see our “What if the LA initially refused to assess or issue an EHC plan, then agreed to do so at mediation or was ordered to do so by the SEND Tribunal?” section below. That section explains which timescales apply and which template letter will be useful to you. Which letter should I use and when should I write? Please read the different situations below and consider which one matches your own situation, then use the letter suggested. If Then there are delays with the EHC needs assessment (or it has not been started) and this risks your LA missing the: 16 week deadline for it to tell you it is not going to issue an EHC plan, or 20 week deadline to issue a final EHC plan you should write to your LA using template letter 10a. We suggest you do this as soon as you become aware of the delay. there are delays with the EHC needs assessment (or it has not been started) and it has been 16 weeks or more since your LA received the EHC needs assessment request you should write to your LA using template letter 10a. You should do this if your LA has not yet sent you: a notice saying it is not going to issue an EHC plan, or a draft EHC plan, by week 16. there are delays with the EHC needs assessment (or it has not been started) and it has been 20 weeks or more since your LA received the EHC needs assessment request you should write to your LA using template letter 10a. You should do this as soon as the 20 week deadline to issue a final EHC plan has passed. your LA has concluded the EHC needs assessment and told you it intends to issue an EHC plan, but has not sent you a draft EHC plan you should write to your LA using template letter 10b. We suggest you do this if you have not received a draft EHC plan by week 14. your LA has concluded the EHC needs assessment and told you it intends to issue an EHC plan, but you have not received a final EHC plan by the 20 week time limit you should write to your LA using template letter 10b. You should do this as soon as the 20 week time limit for issuing an final EHC plan has passed. What if the LA initially refused to assess or issue an EHC plan, then agreed to do so at mediation or was ordered to do so by the SEND Tribunal? If this has happened then different deadlines now apply, Your LA must comply with the deadlines set out in Regulation 44 of The SEND Regulations 2014 and we have different template letters you can use if your LA fails to do this. If Then Which Template letter should I use if my LA does not comply? your LA refused to carry out an EHC needs assessment but then is ordered to do so by the SEND Tribunal it must start the assessment within 2 weeks of the date of the order. It 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. Template letter 16 your LA refused to carry out an EHC needs assessment then agreed to do so at mediation unless a different deadline is set out in the mediation agreement, it must start the assessment within 2 weeks of the date of the mediation agreement, 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 mediation agreement. If a different deadline is set out in the agreement, that deadline will apply instead. Template letter 23 your LA refused to issue an EHC plan following the EHC needs assessment and is then ordered to issue a plan by the SEND Tribunal it must issue the: draft plan within 5 weeks, and final plan within 11 weeks of the date of the order. Template letter 16 your LA refused to issue an EHC plan following the EHC needs assessment, then agreed to do so at mediation unless a different deadline is set out in the mediation agreement, it must issue the: draft plan within 5 weeks, and final plan within 11 weeks of the date of the mediation agreement. If a different deadline is set out in the agreement, that deadline will apply instead. Template letter 23 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 on the Association of Directors of Children’s Services website. 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. Should I make a formal complaint as well? Delay in completing an EHC needs assessment is likely to result in a delay to one or more of the following: your child or young person receiving the special educational provision they require your right to mediate and/or appeal (either about a decision not to issue an EHC plan or about a final EHC plan if you don’t agree with what it says) These are very serious matters and mean the LA is not complying with the law. Therefore, when a final EHC plan is late taking the time to complete your LA’s complaints process may not be appropriate, in which case we recommend you use our template letter to alert the LA to the issue and take advice on starting a process called judicial review instead of making a formal complaint. You may prefer to complain or be thinking about complaining because, while being slow, the LA hasn’t breached a legal deadline yet but first check your LA’s complaints procedure for how long this would take. This can be found in your LA’s Local Offer on its website. If necessary, after following the LA’s complaints procedure you can escalate the complaint to the Local Government Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO). If a complaint goes through all stages of the LGSCO’s process, it can take many months to resolve. So again, if the situation is urgent – for example because the final EHC plan is late - we recommend you consider judicial review instead of making a formal complaint. If you decide to complain, 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. If complaining, you should follow the LA’s complaints procedure as well as writing to the Director of Children’s Services. See our page on taking action when things go wrong with a local authority for more information. Remember to keep a copy of any letter or email you send. If you need further advice or you use this template letter and do not get a reply after five working days, you can book an advice line appointment with IPSEA, use our call-in service or take advice and get help with judicial review from a legal aid provider or other organisation. Manage Cookie Preferences