Rulebook · Local authority letter

Reply to a Tribunal recommendation about health or social care

This letter replies to a recommendation the SEND Tribunal made about health or social care. The health body (usually the integrated care board) replies about health, and the council about social care. The law says the reply must be in writing, within 5 weeks beginning with the date of the recommendation unless the Tribunal set a different time, and must say what steps, if any, will be taken, with reasons for not following any part of it.

Plenda checks 8 things in a letter like this: 2 are required by the Act or Regulations; 6 are good practice. Recommendations are not binding. The health body or council must consider the recommendation and reply, but it can decide not to follow it, giving its reasons. The Tribunal can set a different time limit for the reply. If it did, that time limit applies instead of the usual 5 weeks. The reply is not one of the decisions that can be appealed to the SEND Tribunal. Other ways to raise a disagreement about the health and social care parts of a plan are listed with the ways to challenge a decision. 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

• Which of the Tribunal's recommendations the reply is aboutGood practice. Not required
• What steps, if any, the health body or council has decided to take after considering the recommendationLaw (Act or Regulations)
• The reasons for any decision not to follow the recommendation, or part of itLaw (Act or Regulations)
• The date of the Tribunal's recommendation (the 5 weeks count from it)Good practice. Not required
• The date of the letterGood practice. Not required
• For a health recommendation: that the reply has also been sent to the council that maintains the planGood practice. Not required
• That information and advice about special educational needs is available (for example from the local SENDIASS)Good practice. Not required
• A named person at the health body or 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.tribunal_recommendation_response

Rules version

england-2026.10

Law as at

30 September 2026

Sources

• SEND (First-tier Tribunal Recommendations Power) Regulations 2017, reg 6Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND (First-tier Tribunal Recommendations Power) Regulations 2017, reg 7Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND (First-tier Tribunal Recommendations Power) Regulations 2017Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND (First-tier Tribunal Recommendations Power) Regulations 2017, reg 6(5)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND (First-tier Tribunal Recommendations Power) Regulations 2017, reg 7(3)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND (First-tier Tribunal Recommendations Power) Regulations 2017, reg 6(4)Law (Act or Regulations)
• SEND (First-tier Tribunal Recommendations Power) Regulations 2017, reg 7(2)Law (Act or Regulations)
• Children and Families Act 2014, s 51(2)Law (Act or Regulations)

Related

• We disagree with the health or social care parts of the plan (sections C, D, G, H1 or H2)
• Written response to a Tribunal health or social care recommendation

Check a letter

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