Rulebook · Local authority letter

Final amended plan, or decision not to amend

This letter comes with the final amended plan, or says the council has decided not to make the changes it proposed. If it is not making them, it must give reasons. Either way, the law says it must tell you about appeals, the time limit, mediation, help to resolve disagreements, where to get information and advice, and the Tribunal's power to make recommendations about health and social care.

Plenda checks 23 things in a letter like this: 14 are required by the Act or Regulations; 1 is Code of Practice "should"; 8 are good practice. The council must send the final amended plan, or tell the parent or young person it will not amend, within 8 weeks of sending the proposed amendments. If the amended plan does not name the school or college the parent or young person asked for, the check for a refused school or college also applies. After a review or a re-assessment, a decision not to amend the plan can itself be appealed. After a re-assessment, an amended or replacement plan goes through the same steps as a new plan, including a draft and the notice sent with the final plan, so the items for a final plan notice apply. It must be sent within 14 weeks of the council saying it will re-assess, or deciding to on its own initiative. A short list of exceptions can lift the 14-week limit, but the duty to act as soon as practicable remains. The Regulations set no notice content or time limit for a decision not to amend or replace the plan after a re-assessment. Plenda does not say what effect a gap in a letter has on the decision. A gap can still matter: it can be raised with the council or in a complaint and, where the decision can be appealed, it may be relevant to a late appeal, because the Tribunal decides whether to accept one. This check compares the text supplied with what the law requires in a letter like this, and with good practice. It does not judge whether the decision itself is right.

What a letter like this includes

• The final amended plan itselfLaw (Act or Regulations)
• The decision not to amend the planLaw (Act or Regulations)
• The reasons for the decisionLaw (Act or Regulations)
• The right to appeal to the SEND Tribunal (the First-tier Tribunal, Special Educational Needs and Disability)Law (Act or Regulations)
• The time limit for appealing (2 months from the date the decision was sent, or 1 month from the mediation certificate if that is later)Law (Act or Regulations)
• The right to mediationLaw (Act or Regulations)
• That before most appeals the parent or young person must contact a mediation adviser and get a certificate (not needed for an appeal only about the school or college named)Law (Act or Regulations)
• How to contact the mediation adviser (a phone number, email or website)Law (Act or Regulations)
• The time limits for asking for mediationLaw (Act or Regulations)
• That a parent or young person who wishes to pursue mediation must tell the council so, and what the issues for mediation are (and, where an issue is health care provision missing from the plan, the health care provision wanted)Law (Act or Regulations)
• Contact details for the person acting for the council whom the parent or young person contacts to pursue mediationLaw (Act or Regulations)
• That going to mediation is a choice: only contacting the mediation adviser is needed before most appealsGood practice. Not required
• That going to mediation does not affect the right to appealCode of Practice: should (follow unless there is a good reason not to). Not required
• That disagreement resolution services are availableLaw (Act or Regulations)
• That information and advice about special educational needs is available (for example from the local SENDIASS)Law (Act or Regulations)
• The Tribunal's power to make recommendations about health and social care needs and provisionLaw (Act or Regulations)
• The date of the letterGood practice. Not required
• Which parts can be appealed: the special educational needs (section B), the special educational provision (section F), and the school or college named, or that none is named (section I)Good practice. Not required
• That an appeal only about the school or college named (section I) does not need a mediation certificateGood practice. Not required
• How the comments on the proposed amendments were consideredGood practice. Not required
• That the amended plan has also been sent to the school or college named in the planGood practice. Not required
• That the amended plan has also been sent to the health commissioning body (usually the integrated care board)Good practice. Not required
• A named person at the council to contact, with a phone number or emailGood practice. Not required

Type of rule

Law (Act or Regulations)This is the law, set by an Act of Parliament or by Regulations.

Rule id

notice.final_amended_plan_or_no_amendment

Rules version

england-2026.10

Law as at

30 September 2026

Sources

• SEND Regulations 2014, reg 22(3)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND Regulations 2014, reg 22(4)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND Regulations 2014, reg 22(5)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND Regulations 2014, reg 32Law (Act or Regulations)
• Children and Families Act 2014, s 39(4)Law (Act or Regulations)
• Children and Families Act 2014, s 51(2)(e)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND Regulations 2014, reg 27(1)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND Regulations 2014, reg 27(2)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND Regulations 2014, reg 27(3)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND Code of Practice 2015, para 9.192Code of Practice: must (restates the law)

Related

• We disagree with the needs (section B), provision (section F) or school or placement (section I) in a final or amended plan, or no school is named
• Council sends the final amended plan (or decides not to amend)
• Last day to contact a mediation adviser (needed before most appeals)
• Last day to appeal to the SEND Tribunal
• Proposed amendments to an EHC plan
• Refusal to name the school or college requested
• Final EHC plan and the notice sent with it

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