Rulebook · Local authority letter

Final EHC plan and the notice sent with it

This letter comes with the final EHC plan. The law says it must tell you about your right to appeal parts of the plan, 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. The plan must also go to the school or college named and the health body.

Plenda checks 22 things in a letter like this: 12 are required by the Act or Regulations; 1 is Code of Practice "should"; 9 are good practice. Sections B, F and I of the final plan can be appealed, including a plan that names no school or college. An appeal only about section I does not need a mediation certificate. If the 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. It looks for the ground and reasons given. The final plan is due within 20 weeks of the council receiving the request for an assessment, or of the child or young person being brought to its attention. A short list of exceptions can lift this limit, but the duty to act as soon as practicable remains. A plan amended or replaced after a re-assessment is finalised in the same way, so the same items apply to its notice. 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 plan itselfLaw (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 draft were consideredGood practice. Not required
• When the plan will be reviewed (within the 12 months starting with the date it was made, then at least every 12 months)Good practice. Not required
• That the final plan has also been sent to the school or college named in the planGood practice. Not required
• That the final 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_plan_notice

Rules version

england-2026.10

Law as at

30 September 2026

Sources

• Children and Families Act 2014, s 39(8)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND Regulations 2014, reg 13(2)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND Regulations 2014, reg 14(2)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND Regulations 2014, reg 32Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND (First-tier Tribunal Recommendations Power) Regulations 2017Law (Act or Regulations)
• Children and Families Act 2014, s 51(2)(c)Law (Act or Regulations)
• Children and Families Act 2014, s 55(2)Law (Act or Regulations)
• Children and Families Act 2014, s 39(4)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND Regulations 2014, reg 13(3)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND Regulations 2014, reg 27(1)Law (Act or Regulations)

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 EHC plan
• Last day to contact a mediation adviser (needed before most appeals)
• Last day to appeal to the SEND Tribunal
• First annual review of the plan
• Refusal to name the school or college requested

Check a letter

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