When a child or young person with an EHC plan moves into a different local authority’s area in England, the EHC plan will need to transfer to the new local authority (LA).

The legal requirement for the new LA to start making the provision in the EHC plan is set out in regulation 15 of The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014. There is also guidance for LAs in the SEN and Disability Code of Practice (the Code) at paragraphs 9.157 to 9.161.

Transfer of the EHC plan to the new LA

The law sets out when the child or young person’s EHC plan transfers to the new LA: 

If	Then
You give the LA you are moving from at least 15 working days’ notice of your move	It must transfer your child or young person’s EHC plan to your new LA on the day that you move
You give the LA you are moving from less than 15 working days’ notice of your move	It has 15 working days from the day it knew you were moving to transfer the EHC plan to your new LA

Therefore it is best for you as the parent or young person to tell the new LA (usually the SEN team within Children’s Services) in advance that you are going to be moving into the area.

As soon as the EHC plan has transferred, the new LA has the same legal duties as if it had issued the EHC plan itself. The most important duty is to make sure that your child, or you as a young person, receives all of the special educational provision specified in Section F of the EHC plan.

The new LA has six weeks from the transfer to notify you that the EHC plan has been transferred, and to let you know when it is going to review the EHC plan (see below).

If the EHC plan names a school for which fees must be paid in Section I, “the new authority may not decline to pay the fees or otherwise maintain the child at an independent or non-maintained special school or a boarding school named in an EHC plan unless and until they have amended the EHC plan” (Paragraph 9.159 of the Code).

If it is no longer practicable for your child or you as a young person to attend the school or college named in Section I (perhaps because it is too far away) then your LA must arrange for them or you to attend another appropriate school until it reviews and amends the EHC plan.

First review of the EHC plan by the new LA

The new LA must review the EHC plan within either 12 months from the EHC plan being made or last reviewed, or 3 months from the date of the transfer, whichever is the later. It must follow the correct process for an annual review.

If the new LA does not complete a review within this time frame you can take action.

Health provision in the EHC plan

A move may mean that the child or young person not only changes LA but also finds themselves under a new commissioning body (formerly known as a clinical commissioning group, and now known as an Integrated Care Board) for their health services. 

Where it is not practicable for that new commissioning body to arrange the health care provision specified in the EHC plan:

• it must, within 15 working days beginning with the date on which it became aware of the move, request that the new LA makes an EHC needs assessment or reviews the EHC plan, and
• the new LA must comply with such request (paragraphs 9.163-5 of the Code).

What will happen after the review or re-assessment?

After a review or re-assessment your new LA could decide to:

• Keep the EHC plan the same.
• Make changes to the EHC plan. You will have a chance to make representations about these changes and object to any amendments you disagree with in the same way you would after an annual review.
• Cease to maintain the EHC plan.

Whichever decision your new LA makes, if you disagree with it you can appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) (the SEND Tribunal).

What happens if I move abroad?

If you move to a different country, rather than to a different English LA, then the situation is different. This includes if you move to Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland for example. There is guidance for LAs on what they can do if a child or young person with an EHC plan moves abroad which you may find useful to read. There is also helpful case law on this, concerning an LA which unlawfully ceased, in other words stopped, a child’s EHC plan after they accompanied their father to Dubai when he was deployed there by the Royal Navy.

An English LA can look to cease (stop) an EHC plan if it considers that it is no longer necessary for the plan to be maintained or if it is no longer responsible for the child or young person. 

An LA is responsible for children and young people if they are:

•  in the LA’s area, and
•  the LA has identified them or been made aware of them as having (or that they may have) special educational needs.

For example, this will include those with EHC plans. This means that an LA is responsible for children and young people with EHC plans in its area. This means that whether your LA is responsible for your child or young person with an EHC plan depends if they are in the LA’s area but this doesn’t mean your LA can take their EHC plan away when they leave the area temporarily. How long they are away for is relevant but not the only factor your LA must consider when deciding if it’s still responsible for your child or young person when they are in a different country. It must consider all of the specific circumstances.

If you move abroad and don’t plan to come back, your previous LA may contact you about stopping your child or young person’s EHC plan on the basis that it is no longer responsible for them and there won’t be a new LA taking over this responsibility (as in the process explained above).

Your previous LA may, in this situation, look to cease your child or young person’s EHC plan if it decides that its area is not where they ordinarily live. But there is no requirement on the LA to do this – it has discretion, so can choose, whether to do this or not. This means that your LA could decide to keep the EHC plan in place, and in making this decision your LA will need to act reasonably. If your move abroad isn’t permanent and you’ll be moving back to the same LA, it’s important to make this clear to the LA. This is because if your child or young person is going to be out of the country temporarily but where they ordinarily live remains the LA, it won’t be able to say it’s no longer responsible for them and take away their EHC plan on that basis.

If you think your child or young person’s EHC plan should be maintained whilst you are abroad, you should make all the relevant factors and circumstances known to the LA for it to consider. For example, you could say how long you plan on being abroad for, why and where you expect to live when you return to England. You should also explain anything which helps show that you have not decided to move abroad permanently, for example if you are keeping a home in the LA and/or will be abroad with your family due to work and your employer provides assistance with returning to the LA.

If the LA decides to cease to maintain your child’s EHC plan in these circumstances, it must follow a legal process and you will have a right to mediate and appeal this decision in the SEND Tribunal.

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