Rulebook · Time limit
Mediation takes place
The council must arrange for mediation to take place within 30 days of being told you want it. If the council cannot arrange mediation in that time, it must tell the mediation adviser as soon as possible. You are then treated as having taken part in mediation, and the adviser issues the certificate you need to appeal within 3 working days of being told.
- How it is counted
- Within 30 days of being told mediation is wanted: 30 days after that day.
- Whose date it is
- The council
- What starts it
- The council was told the family wants mediation
- What counts as done
- Mediation ended
- Type of rule
- Law (Act or Regulations)
- Rule id
mediation_within_30_days- Rules version
- england-2026.10
- Law as at
- 30 September 2026
Part of how this date is counted is less certain in the law. Check the sources, and the counting note above.
If the mediation is only about health care, the health commissioning body arranges it instead. The council must tell that body within 3 working days of being told, and the body must arrange mediation within 30 days of receiving the council's notice (reg 35(2) and (3)), so the date can be up to 3 working days later. The council's duty to tell the mediation adviser if it cannot arrange mediation in time does not cover this case.
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 36(2)Law (Act or Regulations)
- SEND Regulations 2014, reg 35(4)Law (Act or Regulations)
- SEND Regulations 2014, reg 35(2)Law (Act or Regulations)
- SEND Regulations 2014, reg 35(3)Law (Act or Regulations)
- SEND Regulations 2014, reg 39(2)Law (Act or Regulations)
- SEND Regulations 2014, reg 39(3)Law (Act or Regulations)
- Children and Families Act 2014, s 53Law (Act or Regulations)
- Children and Families Act 2014, s 54Law (Act or Regulations)
- Children and Families Act 2014, s 55(5)Law (Act or Regulations)
If you think this rule is wrong or out of date, please tell us. A person reads every report.