The local authority's duty at an annual review is to do four things, in order: reviewing an EHC plan at least every 12 months, consulting the child's parent or the young person, and within four weeks of the review meeting deciding whether to maintain, amend or cease the plan and notifying them. The first review falls within 12 months of the plan being made, and each later review within 12 months of the last one (section 44, Children and Families Act 2014). For a child or young person attending a school or college, the council usually asks the setting to convene the meeting, but the decision-and-notify duty stays with the council.
Holding the meeting is not the whole duty
The common error, and the one that costs councils at the SEND Tribunal, is to treat the meeting as the duty. It is not. The duty is the whole timetabled process that the meeting sits inside. Two deadlines run from the date of the meeting itself, not from when the council gets round to it:
- Two weeks to prepare a report of the meeting, setting out recommendations on any amendments, and send it to everyone who was invited (regulation 20, SEND Regulations 2014).
- Four weeks to decide whether to maintain, amend or cease the plan and to notify the parent or young person and the setting of that decision.
A meeting arranged by the school does not discharge the council's own duty to make and notify that decision. The review must also focus on progress towards the outcomes in the plan, not simply confirm the placement (SEND Code of Practice 2015, paragraph 9.176).
The three possible decisions and the appeal route
After the review the council can reach only one of three decisions: maintain the plan as it is, amend it, or cease to maintain it. All three carry a right of mediation and a right of appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (SEND). If the council decides to amend, a separate timetable then starts: it must issue the amended plan within eight weeks of sending the proposed amendments, which works out at roughly 12 weeks from the meeting. Missing any of these windows is a breach the council carries, whoever ran the meeting. You can read more on how long an LA has to issue an amended EHCP after a review and on the duty to maintain an EHCP.
Does the 2026 reform change this?
No, not yet. As of May 2026 the annual-review duty is live law under section 44 and regulation 20. The 2026 Schools White Paper and the Education for All Bill propose Individual Support Plans and a narrower EHCP for the most complex needs, but no change takes effect before September 2030 and current plan holders are protected. Treat the duty above as the rule that applies today.
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.