The Local Authority Has Missed the EHCP Deadline: What Happens Next?
The Education, Health and Care Plan process contains clear statutory deadlines.
Yet many parents find themselves waiting weeks or months beyond them—often while their child remains without the assessment, provision or placement they need.
Parents may be told:
“We are waiting for an Educational Psychologist.”
“Your case has not been to panel yet.”
“The SEND team has a backlog.”
“We are short-staffed.”
“We cannot give you a date.”
“Someone will contact you when the plan is ready.”
These explanations may describe the Local Authority’s difficulties, but they do not automatically extend the legal deadline.
When a deadline has been missed, the first step is to identify which stage is delayed, what decision should already have been made and what practical harm the delay is causing.
What are the main EHCP deadlines?
For a new EHC needs assessment, the main statutory stages are:
StageDeadlineLocal Authority receives the request for an EHC needs assessmentWeek 0Decision whether to carry out an assessmentWithin 6 weeksDecision whether an EHCP will be issuedUsually by week 16Parent or young person responds to the draft planAt least 15 daysFinal EHCP issuedWithin 20 weeks of the original request
The whole process—from the Local Authority receiving the request to issuing any final EHCP—should normally take no more than 20 weeks.
If the Local Authority completes the assessment but decides not to issue an EHCP, it must notify the parent or young person within 16 weeks of receiving the original assessment request.
These deadlines are not internal targets. They arise from the statutory EHCP framework.
The six-week assessment decision
Once the Local Authority receives a valid request for an EHC needs assessment, it has six weeks to decide whether an assessment is necessary.
It should notify the parent or young person of that decision in writing.
If it refuses to assess, the decision letter should explain:
why the request has been refused;
the right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal;
the relevant appeal time limit;
mediation arrangements; and
where independent information and advice can be obtained.
A Local Authority should not leave the request sitting indefinitely because it wants more school evidence, is waiting for a panel meeting or has not allocated a caseworker.
It may seek further information during the six-week period, but it must still make the decision within the required timeframe.
The 16-week decision
Where an assessment is agreed, the Local Authority gathers advice about the child or young person’s education, health and care needs.
By week 16, it should normally have decided whether it is necessary to issue an EHCP.
There are then two possible outcomes.
The Local Authority refuses to issue an EHCP
It must send a formal decision letter explaining the refusal and the right of appeal.
Once that decision is made, the parent or young person can consider mediation and an appeal to the SEND Tribunal.
The Local Authority agrees to issue an EHCP
It should prepare and send a draft plan, allowing enough time for the parent or young person to receive at least 15 days to comment before the final 20-week deadline.
The parent can:
identify missing or inaccurate needs;
request changes to the provision;
ask for a meeting with the Local Authority; and
request a particular school or institution.
The Local Authority cannot lawfully solve a delay by shortening the parent’s 15-day consultation period without agreement.
The 20-week deadline
Where an EHCP is to be issued, the final plan must normally be sent within 20 weeks of the original request.
The deadline is not 20 weeks from:
the decision to assess;
the Educational Psychologist’s visit;
the panel meeting;
the date the draft was issued;
or the caseworker being allocated.
It runs from the date the Local Authority received the original request for an EHC needs assessment.
Government information confirms that the period ends when the final EHCP is sent to the parent or young person.
Are there any exceptions?
There are limited statutory circumstances in which parts of the usual timescale may not apply.
These can include particular situations involving:
the child or young person being absent from the area for a continuous period;
exceptional personal circumstances affecting the child or family;
certain late requests involving education settings that are closed for extended periods;
missed appointments in particular circumstances; or
mediation or tribunal proceedings affecting the process.
Whether an exception applies depends on the facts.
A Local Authority should not simply say that an unspecified “exception” applies. Ask it to identify:
The exact exception being relied upon.
The date the exception began.
The period of time it says should be excluded.
The legal basis for excluding that period.
The revised statutory deadline.
Workload, staff shortages and general delays in obtaining professional advice are not automatically statutory exceptions.
“We are waiting for an Educational Psychologist”
This is one of the most common explanations for EHCP delay.
Educational psychology advice is often a crucial part of the assessment. However, responsibility for completing the statutory process remains with the Local Authority.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has repeatedly found councils at fault where shortages of Educational Psychologists led to EHCP delays. In a March 2026 decision, it found fault where a 19-week delay in obtaining Educational Psychologist advice contributed to the council missing the statutory timetable.
The Ombudsman has also found fault where a council failed to complete an EHC assessment within the required period because of an Educational Psychologist shortage.
A shortage may explain why the failure occurred. It does not necessarily make the failure lawful.
Parents should ask:
When was Educational Psychologist advice requested?
What deadline was given to the service?
Has the request been escalated?
Is another appropriately qualified professional available?
What is the confirmed assessment date?
How will the Local Authority prevent further delay after the advice arrives?
Do not accept “you are on the waiting list” as the complete plan.
What if the deadline has only just passed?
Act promptly.
Send a written email to the EHCP caseworker and copy in the team manager. Keep the wording factual and focused on the required action.
Include:
the date the original request was submitted;
the date the Local Authority received it;
the stage the process has reached;
the statutory deadline;
the number of days or weeks overdue;
what remains outstanding;
the effect on the child; and
the action you require.
Ask for a substantive written response within a short, reasonable period—usually five working days.
Suggested wording
Subject: Overdue EHC needs assessment – request for immediate action
I requested an EHC needs assessment for my child on [date]. The Local Authority received the request on [date].
The statutory deadline for [the decision whether to assess/the decision whether to issue a plan/the final EHCP] passed on [date]. I have not yet received the required decision or document.
Please confirm within five working days:
The present stage of the assessment.
What remains outstanding.
Whether the Local Authority says that a statutory exception applies.
If so, the precise legal basis and revised deadline.
The date on which I will receive the decision or final EHCP.
What action is being taken to prevent further delay.
The delay is affecting my child because [briefly explain the educational impact, missing support, unsuitable placement or absence from education].
Please treat this as a request for immediate escalation to a senior SEND manager.
Focus on the effect of the delay
It is important to record more than the number of weeks overdue.
Explain what the delay has caused.
For example:
special educational provision has not been identified;
professional assessments have not taken place;
the child remains in an unsuitable placement;
a school transition cannot be planned;
the parent cannot exercise a right of appeal;
therapy or specialist teaching has not begun;
the child is receiving reduced or no education;
the family has paid privately for support;
attendance or emotional wellbeing has deteriorated; or
uncertainty is preventing a suitable placement from being secured.
This evidence may later be relevant to a complaint or Ombudsman investigation.
In a March 2026 decision concerning a process that took 62 weeks, the Ombudsman found that the delay caused distress, frustration and lost special educational provision.
Can you appeal because the Local Authority is late?
Usually, the SEND Tribunal considers particular decisions rather than delay by itself.
Appealable decisions include:
refusal to carry out an EHC needs assessment;
refusal to issue an EHCP after assessment;
refusal to reassess;
refusal to amend following review;
a decision to cease an EHCP; and
disagreements about Sections B, F or I of a final plan.
This creates a serious problem where the Local Authority delays making any decision: without the decision letter, the parent may not yet have the document needed to begin an appeal.
That is why delay should be challenged promptly rather than simply waiting.
Once a refusal or final EHCP is issued, check the appeal deadline immediately. Do not allow an ongoing complaint to cause you to miss the separate tribunal deadline.
Complaint or tribunal?
The correct route depends on the problem.
A complaint may address:
statutory delay;
failure to communicate;
failure to follow the annual review process;
administrative errors;
failure to implement agreed action;
missed educational provision; and
avoidable distress, uncertainty or expense.
A tribunal appeal may address:
refusal to assess;
refusal to issue an EHCP;
refusal to reassess;
refusal to amend;
the description of needs in Section B;
the special educational provision in Section F; and
the placement in Section I.
Sometimes both routes are needed for different parts of the case.
For example, a parent may appeal the contents of the final EHCP while separately complaining about the months of delay that occurred before it was issued.
When should you make a formal complaint?
If the initial escalation does not produce a firm date and meaningful action, consider starting the Local Authority’s formal complaints process.
Your complaint should identify:
The statutory deadline that was missed.
The length of the delay.
Any explanations given.
Why those explanations do not resolve the matter.
The effect on the child and family.
The action required now.
Any remedy sought for injustice already caused.
Do not make the complaint only about poor communication.
The central failure is usually that a statutory decision or plan has not been delivered on time. Poor communication may have made that failure worse, but it is not the whole issue.
Ask for practical remedies, such as:
immediate completion of the assessment;
a named senior officer responsible for the case;
confirmed dates for outstanding advice;
an urgent draft or final plan;
consideration of missed provision;
reimbursement of evidenced avoidable costs where appropriate; and
an explanation of service improvements.
When can the Ombudsman become involved?
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman can investigate complaints about Local Authority administrative fault, including EHCP delays.
Normally, the council’s own complaints process should be used first.
The Ombudsman has required councils to apologise, make financial payments and take service-improvement action where statutory EHCP deadlines and communication standards were not met.
However, the Ombudsman and SEND Tribunal perform different roles.
The Ombudsman does not replace the Tribunal’s power to decide what Sections B, F and I should contain. Equally, the Tribunal will not usually provide a remedy for every administrative failure that occurred before the appeal.
What if the delay is continuing and urgent?
Where the Local Authority remains in breach and the delay is causing serious ongoing harm, specialist public-law advice may be required.
Judicial review can potentially be used to challenge an unlawful failure to act, rather than waiting for a decision that has not been made.
It is a specialist and time-sensitive legal process. Parents considering it should obtain advice promptly from a solicitor with SEND and public-law experience.
A formal pre-action letter should not be threatened casually. It should identify the legal duty, the breach, the action required and the urgency of the case.
What if the child is out of education?
An overdue EHCP process does not remove the Local Authority’s other responsibilities.
If a child of compulsory school age would otherwise receive no suitable education because of illness, exclusion or another reason, the Local Authority may have a separate duty to arrange suitable education.
Similarly, if an existing EHCP is already in place, the Local Authority remains responsible for securing the special educational provision specified in Section F.
Parents should therefore ask two distinct questions:
When will the overdue EHCP action be completed?
What suitable education and provision will be arranged while the delay continues?
The Local Authority should not use the unfinished EHCP process as a reason to leave the child without education.
Annual review deadlines
Delay does not only occur during new assessments.
An EHCP must be reviewed at least every 12 months. Following the review meeting, the Local Authority must notify the parent or young person within four weeks whether it intends to:
maintain the plan without amendment;
amend the plan; or
cease to maintain it.
Where it decides to amend, the amendment process should begin without delay. The parent or young person must receive an amendment notice, have at least 15 days to comment and receive the amended final EHCP as soon as practicable and within eight weeks of the amendment notice.
If the four-week decision has not arrived, ask for it immediately. A delayed decision can prevent a parent from exercising their right of appeal.
Phase-transfer deadlines
Stricter deadlines apply when a child or young person is moving between particular phases of education.
The amended final EHCP should generally be issued by:
15 February for transfers into or between schools; and
31 March for transfers from school to a post-16 college or apprenticeship.
The amended plan should name the next placement—or, where appropriate, the type of placement—so that transition planning and any appeal can take place before September.
Missing a phase-transfer deadline is particularly serious because it may leave a family approaching the new academic year without a confirmed placement.
Parents should not be told simply to wait until the summer.
After a successful tribunal appeal
Where a parent wins at tribunal, the Local Authority must comply within specific timescales.
Depending on the order, it must generally:
begin an assessment or reassessment within two weeks;
make an EHCP within five weeks;
amend Sections B or F within five weeks;
change Section I within two weeks; or
continue or cease a plan immediately.
If the council does not comply, write immediately to the senior SEND officer and refer to the date and terms of the tribunal order.
Government guidance confirms that a complaint can be made to the Ombudsman if the Local Authority fails to act on a successful tribunal decision.
Do not allow delay to become the process
Some EHCP cases drift because each missed deadline is treated as an unfortunate but unavoidable event.
A week becomes a month. A month becomes a term. Meanwhile:
the child’s needs remain undocumented;
provision cannot be enforced;
placement decisions are postponed;
appeal rights are delayed; and
the child falls further behind.
A missed deadline should trigger a structured response:
Confirm the correct deadline.
Put the breach in writing.
Ask whether a statutory exception is relied upon.
Require a firm completion date.
Record the educational impact.
Escalate to a senior manager.
Use the complaints process where necessary.
Protect any emerging tribunal appeal rights.
Seek urgent legal advice where continued delay is causing serious harm.
The purpose is not merely to prove that the Local Authority is late.
It is to secure the decision, assessment, provision or placement your child is waiting for.
Need clarity about the next step?
My Initial Case Review examines the EHCP timeline, correspondence, educational circumstances and available evidence.
You will receive a clear assessment of:
which statutory deadlines have been missed;
whether any claimed exception appears relevant;
what action should be requested immediately;
whether a complaint, appeal or urgent legal escalation may be required;
how the delay has affected your child’s education; and
what evidence should now be preserved.
This article provides general information about the law in England. It is not a substitute for legal advice on an individual case.