Rulebook · Time limit
Council sends the final amended plan (or decides not to amend)
The council must send the final amended plan, or tell you it has decided not to amend and why.
- How it is counted
- As soon as practicable, and in any case within 8 weeks of the day the council sent the proposed amendments: the same day of the week, 8 weeks later.
- Whose date it is
- The council
- What starts it
- The council sent proposed amendments to the plan, or The council told the family its decision after the review (keep, amend or stop the plan)
- What counts as done
- The council sent the final amended plan, or its decision not to amend
- Type of rule
- Law (Act or Regulations)
- Rule id
amended_plan_8_weeks- Rules version
- england-2026.10
- Law as at
- 30 September 2026
If the date passes
The council still has to do this, as soon as it can. Passing the date does not by itself change any decision or end the plan.
Steps people often take:
- Write to the council's SEN team, say which time limit has passed, and ask when it will be done.
- Make a formal complaint through the council's complaints process.
- If that does not resolve it, complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which looks at delay.
- For serious delay, a solicitor can send a pre-action letter before a judicial review claim, which must be brought promptly and within 3 months.
Your own deadlines do not change because the council is late.
Sources
- SEND Regulations 2014, reg 22(3)Law (Act or Regulations)
- SEND Regulations 2014, reg 22(4)Law (Act or Regulations)
- R (L) v Devon County Council [2022] EWHC 493 (Admin)Case law, to verifyStill to confirm the citation, the holding, that the decision has not been overturned on appeal, and that it is treated as binding on the First-tier Tribunal.
If you think this rule is wrong or out of date, please tell us. A person reads every report.