EHCP Annual Review: The Timeline and Every Deadline That Binds the Council

The annual review is the one point in the year when an EHC plan can be changed without anyone having to fight for a reassessment. It is also where most of the delay happens, because the deadlines after the meeting are the part almost nobody is told about. Here is the whole timeline, and what each deadline actually requires.

How often does an EHCP have to be reviewed?

Every 12 months. Section 44(1) of the Children and Families Act 2014 says the council must review the plan within 12 months of the day it was first made, and then within 12 months of the last review. The clock runs from the plan, not from the school year, so a plan made in February is due by the following February however the school arranges its meetings.

What happens at an EHCP annual review meeting?

The council must make sure a meeting happens, and where your child is at a school it can require the head teacher to arrange and hold it. The people who must be invited are you (or the young person), the head teacher or principal, a council education officer for special educational needs, a health care professional named by the commissioning body, and a council social care officer.

• You must get at least two weeks’ notice of the date.
• Advice and information from everyone invited must be gathered and circulated at least two weeks before the meeting, so nobody arrives cold.
• The meeting must consider progress towards the outcomes in the plan.
• From year 9 onwards it must also consider what is needed to prepare for adulthood and independent living.
• A written report with recommendations must be prepared within two weeks of the meeting and sent to everyone who was invited.

How long does the council have to decide after an annual review?

Four weeks from the review meeting. Regulation 20(10) gives the council three options and one deadline: continue the plan as it is, amend it, or cease to maintain it, and it must notify you within four weeks of the meeting. If it decides to continue the plan unchanged or to cease it, it must also tell you about your right of appeal, the time limits, and mediation.

What happens if the council amends the plan?

It must send you the plan together with a notice of the proposed amendments and the evidence behind them, and give you at least 15 days to comment, to ask for a particular school or college to be named, and to request a meeting with an officer if you want to say it out loud rather than in writing. The final amended plan must be issued within eight weeks of that draft being sent. If the council decides after all that not to amend, it must tell you and give its reasons, also within eight weeks.

What if my child is home educated or does not attend a school?

The review still happens, and the council runs it itself. Regulation 21 applies where the child or young person does not attend a school or other institution: the council must invite you, its own education and social care officers and a health care professional, give at least two weeks’ notice, and gather advice beforehand in the same way. The duty to review every 12 months does not pause because you are educating at home.

Can you appeal after an annual review?

Yes, on the parts of the plan that carry a right of appeal, which is why the council has to set out those rights when it tells you its decision. The deadline is set by rule 20(1)(c) of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (Health, Education and Social Care Chamber) Rules 2008: two months from the written notice of the decision, or one month from the date a mediation certificate was issued, whichever falls later. You normally have to contact a mediation adviser before you can register an appeal, even if you then decide not to mediate.

What if the council misses the deadlines?

Missing the four weeks or the eight weeks is a failure to follow the regulations, not a matter of opinion, and saying so in those terms tends to move things. Put the date of the review meeting and the deadline that has passed in writing to the council’s SEN team, then use the council’s formal complaints process. If that does not fix it, the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates delay and maladministration in the EHC process, normally within 12 months of you realising something has gone wrong. Where the decision itself is appealable, the tribunal route above runs separately from any complaint.

Sources

• legislation.gov.uk: Children and Families Act 2014, section 44 (reviews and re-assessments)
• legislation.gov.uk: SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 20 (review where the child attends a school)
• legislation.gov.uk: regulation 21 (review where the child does not attend a school)
• legislation.gov.uk: regulation 22 (amending an EHC plan following a review)

Common questions

How long does an EHCP annual review take from start to finish?

From the review meeting, four weeks for the council’s decision, and if it is amending, at least 15 days for your comments on the draft and a final plan within eight weeks of that draft. So a review that runs to the regulations finishes within roughly three months of the meeting.

Can an annual review be held early?

Yes. A review can be brought forward, which is often called an interim or emergency review, and the 12 month clock then runs from that review instead. The 12 months is a maximum, not a fixed date.

Can the council cease an EHC plan at an annual review?

It can propose to, and it must tell you within four weeks of the meeting along with your appeal rights, the time limits and the mediation information. Ceasing is an appealable decision, and the plan stays in place while an appeal about ceasing is running.

Do I have to attend the annual review meeting?

You must be invited and given at least two weeks’ notice, and the advice gathered for the meeting must be circulated to you at least two weeks beforehand. If the date does not work, ask for it to be moved rather than letting it go ahead without you, and put any views you cannot deliver in person in writing so they form part of the papers.

What if no annual review has been held at all?

Write to the council’s SEN team, name the date the last plan was made or last reviewed, and ask for the review to be arranged. The duty sits with the council even where a school normally hosts the meeting, so a school that has not organised one is not a defence.