How long should an EHCP take?
By law, a council must issue a final Education, Health and Care Plan within 20 weeks of receiving a request for an assessment, unless a specific exception applies.[5][6] In 2025, only 46.1% of new plans in England met that limit.[1] London did better at 61.6%, but the gap between boroughs is huge: from 100% in Barnet to 22.9% in Lewisham.
London borough league table, 2025
Share of new EHCPs issued within the legal 20 weeks, ranked from fastest to slowest. Select a column heading to sort. Figures exclude plans covered by the legal exceptions to the time limit.[2][3]
| # | Borough | Within 20 weeks | Change on 2024 | Plans issued | Took over a year | Refused to assess1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| =1 | Barnet | no change | 600 | 0% | 30% | |
| =1 | Wandsworth | no change | 392 | 0% | 23.5% | |
| 3 | Kensington and Chelsea | ▼ 2.1 pts | 94 | 0% | 17% | |
| 4 | Kingston upon Thames | ▲ 3.4 pts | 289 | 0% | 24.7% | |
| 5 | Richmond upon Thames | ▲ 2.2 pts | 227 | 0% | 23.5% | |
| 6 | Sutton | ▲ 19.5 pts | 251 | 0% | 47.6% | |
| 7 | Merton | ▲ 13.2 pts | 451 | 0% | 24.2% | |
| 8 | Westminster | ▼ 7.1 pts | 197 | 0% | 15.6% | |
| 9 | Haringey | ▲ 5.4 pts | 270 | 0% | 27.8% | |
| 10 | Lambeth | ▲ 1.9 pts | 387 | 0% | 32.5% | |
| 11 | Harrow | ▲ 49.5 pts | 407 | 0.5% | 19.9% | |
| 12 | Hammersmith and Fulham | ▲ 1.8 pts | 227 | 0% | 20.4% | |
| 13 | Islington | ▲ 6.3 pts | 316 | 0.3% | 20% | |
| 14 | Hillingdon | ▼ 13.2 pts | 362 | 0% | 34.3% | |
| 15 | Camden | ▼ 23.7 pts | 196 | 0.5% | 14.6% | |
| 16 | Bromley | ▲ 6.6 pts | 523 | 0% | 26.4% | |
| 17 | Brent | ▼ 19.6 pts | 396 | 0% | 26.8% | |
| 18 | Enfield | ▼ 18.0 pts | 679 | 0.3% | 20.5% | |
| 19 | Bexley | ▼ 2.7 pts | 457 | 0.4% | 30.9% | |
| 20 | Croydon | ▼ 11.6 pts | 1,038 | 0.5% | 13.3% | |
| 21 | Hounslow | ▼ 20.9 pts | 416 | 0% | 28.4% | |
| 22 | Ealing | ▼ 19.3 pts | 661 | 3.5% | 14.7% | |
| 23 | Tower Hamlets | ▲ 6.2 pts | 683 | 2% | 18.1% | |
| 24 | Southwark | ▲ 6.8 pts | 425 | 0.7% | 43.3% | |
| 25 | Hackney | ▼ 10.5 pts | 405 | 3% | 39.6% | |
| 26 | Havering | ▲ 2.6 pts | 413 | 0% | 20.5% | |
| 27 | Newham | ▼ 26.1 pts | 807 | 14.5% | 22.5% | |
| 28 | Greenwich | ▼ 4.9 pts | 477 | 0.6% | 12.6% | |
| 29 | Redbridge | ▲ 20.9 pts | 645 | 7% | 18.8% | |
| 30 | Barking and Dagenham | ▼ 0.5 pts | 276 | 3.6% | 14% | |
| 31 | Waltham Forest | ▼ 25.1 pts | 549 | 13.8% | 0%2 | |
| 32 | Lewisham | not published | 354 | 15.3% | 24.8% | |
| London overall | ▼ 5.2 pts | 13,874 | 2.7% | 23.6% | ||
| England | ▼ 0.3 pts | 95,411 | 10.3% | 26.6% |
1 Share of requests for an EHC needs assessment where the council decided not to assess. 2 Waltham Forest reported no refusals in 2024 or 2025. It recorded 17.6% of its 2025 requests (35.7% in 2024) as having no decision yet made. City of London issued 4 plans in 2025, too few for a meaningful percentage, so it is not ranked. 14 of the 32 ranked boroughs improved on 2024. Boroughs with the same figure share a rank. “London overall” and “England” are the government’s totals, not averages of the borough percentages. Changes are calculated from unrounded figures, so they can differ by 0.1 from subtracting the rounded numbers shown.
London compared with England
Share of new EHCPs issued within 20 weeks, 2019 to 2025.
Show the figures as a table
| Year | London | England |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 64.6% | 60.4% |
| 2020 | 61.8% | 58% |
| 2021 | 63.9% | 59.9% |
| 2022 | 54.7% | 49.2% |
| 2023 | 70% | 50.3% |
| 2024 | 66.9% | 46.4% |
| 2025 | 61.6% | 46.1% |
What can you do if your EHCP is late?
The 20-week limit is set by regulation 13 of the SEND Regulations 2014.[5] If your council misses it without one of the permitted exceptions,[6] write to the SEND team, use the council’s complaints process, and if that does not resolve it, complain to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. Keep a dated record of every step.
- Check the dates. The clock starts when the council receives your request. Note the dates of the decision to assess, the draft plan and any contact.
- Write to the SEND team. Say that the statutory deadline has passed and ask for a firm date for the final plan. Keep copies.
- Make a formal complaint. Use the council’s published complaints procedure and ask what interim support will be put in place.
- Go to the Ombudsman. The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman investigates delays in EHC needs assessments and can recommend a remedy.[8]
- Get advice for serious delays. IPSEA publishes model letters, and in some cases a solicitor may advise on judicial review.[9]
Delays are also a reason to make sure the evidence is ready. A clear, specific behavioural report helps the plan describe needs and provision accurately once it is written. Pooja provides reports for EHC needs assessments, annual reviews and tribunal appeals. EHCP and SEND reports.
What if the council refuses to assess?
Across London in 2025, 23.6% of requests for an assessment were refused.[3] A refusal is not the end of the road. You can appeal to the SEND Tribunal within two months of the decision (you will usually need a mediation certificate first).[10] The step-by-step EHCP guide explains the process and the evidence that helps.
How this table was made
- Source: the Department for Education’s official statistics Education, health and care plans, published on 25 June 2026.[1] We used two of its published data sets, at local authority level, for the calendar year 2025 and earlier years.[2][3] No figures were estimated or adjusted.
- Within 20 weeks: new EHC plans issued in the calendar year within 20 weeks of the request, as a share of all new plans issued. Cases where a legal exception applies are excluded, which is the government’s headline measure. The exceptions are set out in regulation 10(4)(a) to (d): advice requested from a school or early years setting shortly before or during a closure of four weeks or more (such as the summer holiday), exceptional personal circumstances affecting the child or family, or the child or family being away from the area for four weeks or more.[6]
- Took over a year: plans issued more than 52 weeks after the request, as a share of new plans issued.
- Refused to assess: requests for an EHC needs assessment received in the year where the council decided not to assess, as a share of all requests received. Some requests are still awaiting a decision when the figures are collected.[3]
- Ranking: boroughs are ranked by the unrounded share issued within 20 weeks. City of London is shown but not ranked because it issues very few plans.
- Series break: from 2023 councils report individual-level records rather than totals, and the government describes a break in the time series. Year-on-year changes from 2024 to 2025 are on the same basis.[4]
- Gaps: where the government has not published a figure, it is shown as not published.
These figures measure timeliness only. They do not measure the quality of plans or of the support that follows, and a fast plan is not necessarily a good one.
Sources and references
- Department for Education (2026). Education, health and care plans: reporting year 2026. Official statistics, published 25 June 2026. explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2026
- Department for Education (2026). Data set: Timeliness of new education, health and care plans, including those issued within the statutory 20 weeks, calendar years 2019 to 2025, local authority level. explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-catalogue?publicationSlug=education-health-and-care-plans&releaseSlug=2026
- Department for Education (2026). Data set: Requests for an education, health and care needs assessment received during the calendar year, 2019 to 2025, local authority level. explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-catalogue?publicationSlug=education-health-and-care-plans&releaseSlug=2026
- Department for Education (2026). Education, health and care plans: data guidance, including the 2023 change to individual-level data collection. explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/education-health-and-care-plans/2026/data-guidance
- The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1530), regulation 13: timescales for EHC plans. legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1530/regulation/13
- The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/1530), regulation 10(4): exceptions to the time limits. legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1530/regulation/10
- Department for Education and Department of Health (2015). Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years, chapter 9. gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25
- Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman: making a complaint. lgo.org.uk/make-a-complaint
- IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice). ipsea.org.uk/
- HM Courts and Tribunals Service: First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). gov.uk/courts-tribunals/first-tier-tribunal-special-educational-needs-and-disability
Links checked on 28 September 2026. Data retrieved from the Department for Education statistics service on 28 September 2026.
Using these figures
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For comment on EHCPs and behavioural evidence, contact info@abaconsultantlondon.com.