The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014

Timescales for EHC plans

13.—(1) When a local authority sends a draft plan to a child’s parent or young person it must—

(a) give them at least 15 days, beginning with the day on which the draft plan was served, in which to—

(i) make representations about the content of the draft plan, and to request that a particular school or other institution be named in the plan; and

(ii) require the local authority to arrange a meeting between them and an officer of the local authority at which the draft plan can be discussed; and

(b) advise them where they can find information about the schools and colleges that are available for the child or young person to attend.

(2) A local authority must send the finalised EHC plan to—

(a) the child’s parent or to the young person;

(b) the governing body, proprietor or principal of any school, other institution or provider of relevant early years education named in the EHC plan; and

(c) to the responsible commissioning body,

as soon as practicable, and in any event within 20 weeks of the local authority receiving a request for an EHC needs assessment in accordance with section 36(1) of the Act, or of the local authority becoming responsible for the child in accordance with section 24 of the Act.

(3) The local authority need not comply with the time limit referred to in paragraph (2) if it is impractical for any of the reasons set out in regulation 10(4)(a) to (d)