What do I do if the council misses the EHCP deadline?

Put the breach in writing first

Put your complaint in writing to the council, citing its legal duty to issue the final EHC plan within 20 weeks; if it still fails, escalate to the Local Government Ombudsman or seek judicial review to force it. That 20-week duty is not a target. It is fixed in law (regulation 13(2) of the SEND Regulations 2014), and the clock runs from the day the council received your request for an assessment, not the day it got round to acknowledging it. The draft plan was due by week 14.

Send a dated email or letter to the SEN team. Say the 20-week deadline has passed, give the date your request was received, and ask for a firm date by which the final plan will be issued. Keep a copy. This is the document the Ombudsman or a court will later treat as the moment you raised the breach.

"We're short-staffed" is not a lawful excuse

The deadline can only be missed in a few narrow situations set out in the regulations, such as the council being unable to get information because of an exceptional local circumstance (regulation 13(3) and regulation 10(4)). A backlog of requests or a staffing shortage is not one of them. If the council blames its caseload, it is describing its own failure, not a lawful reason to delay your child's plan.

This is not a Tribunal matter

A late plan is not something you take to the SEND Tribunal. The Tribunal hears appeals against decisions — a refusal to assess, a refusal to issue a plan, or the content and named school once a plan exists (section 51 of the Children and Families Act 2014). Delay is not a decision, so there is nothing for the Tribunal to overturn. Trying to appeal the delay just loses you time. To chase a missed deadline you have two real routes, and they do different jobs.

Choose the route by what you need most

The Ombudsman route wins you a remedy for the harm the delay caused. The judicial review route actually forces the plan out and is usually faster. Pick by what matters most right now — money for lost support, or the plan itself.

On the Ombudsman route, its published remedies guidance points to symbolic payments of roughly £900 to £2,400 per term for lost or missed educational provision, plus a modest sum for avoidable distress. You will see solicitors and decision letters quote a flat £100 a month for delay; that is a common practice in individual cases, not what the guidance itself fixes, so do not treat it as the cap. As of 2026 these routes and the 20-week duty are unchanged, though a reform consultation is live (see below).

If you go the court route

Judicial review sounds heavier than it usually is. A solicitor sends the council a letter before claim setting out the breach and giving a short deadline to issue the plan. Faced with a clear legal duty and no lawful excuse, most councils issue rather than defend a claim they will lose, so you rarely end up in a courtroom. Many education law firms offer a free first conversation, and legal aid can be available for the child.

The law on the 20-week duty has not changed. The government's 2026 schools White Paper proposes replacing EHC plans with new support plans for the most complex needs over the coming decade, with nothing changing before September 2030 and existing plans protected. It does not affect your rights today.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.