Moving to a New Council With an EHCP

When you move permanently to a new council in England, the new local authority (LA) must take on your child’s Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and deliver everything in Section F from the day of the move. Moving within England does not cost your child their support. The transfer rules sit in regulation 15 of the SEND Regulations 2014. (Sources checked June 2026.)

You’ve found a new home, maybe a new job, maybe just somewhere closer to family. Then the worry lands. Your child has a plan, and moving means a different council. Will the support survive the move? In England, it should.

This guide is for parents and carers planning a move, or already unpacking, in England. The framework comes from the Children and Families Act 2014 and the SEND Regulations 2014 made under it. (Education law differs in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and there’s a section below on what that means for you.)

What happens to your child’s EHCP when you move council?

Your child’s EHCP moves with you, and the new council inherits the legal duties that came with it. The old LA passes the plan across, and the new LA must maintain it as if it had written the plan itself.

The power for this comes from section 47 of the Children and Families Act 2014, the “transfer of EHC plans” provision. It hands the day-to-day rules to regulation 15 of the SEND Regulations 2014, which is the one to quote in any letter you write.

Which council becomes responsible is decided by section 24 of the Children and Families Act 2014. The test is simple: the LA responsible is the one whose area your child is now “in.” Once you’ve made the area your settled home, the new council is on the hook.

The operational steps are also written into the SEND Code of Practice at paragraphs 9.157 to 9.162. The Department for Education published dedicated guidance for councils on EHCP transfers in February 2024. So the duty is not a grey area. It’s spelled out in three places.

Does the new council have to keep your child’s EHCP?

Yes. The new council must maintain the EHCP and secure all the special educational provision in Section F, and it has to do that from the date of the transfer, not from some later review.

This is the duty that survives every move. Section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014 puts an absolute, non-delegable duty on the LA to secure the special educational provision set out in Section F. “Absolute” means there’s no get-out clause. A new council can’t tell you it hasn’t budgeted for your child, hasn’t recruited the staff yet, or can’t find a local therapist. Those are real problems, but in law they’re the council’s problems to solve, not reasons to leave your child without support.

The health side moves too. If your child’s plan includes health provision and a new health body can’t arrange it, regulation 15 gives that body 15 working days, from when it became aware of the move, to ask the new council for a re-assessment or review. It can’t simply drop the health support and stay silent.

How quickly must the plan transfer and what are the deadlines?

The clock starts on the day you move, and the headline deadline is that the transfer itself happens on the move date. The other deadlines fall into place from there, all set out in regulation 15.

It helps to give your old council notice. The SEND Code of Practice (paragraph 9.157) suggests telling them at least 15 working days before you move. That’s best practice rather than a hard rule, but it makes the move-day transfer far more likely to go smoothly.

Here’s the statutory timeline once the move happens.

1. 1
   Old council transfers the plan

   On the day of the move, or within 15 working days of becoming aware if you gave shorter notice

   reg 15
2. 2
   New council notifies you

   It must tell you the plan has transferred and what it plans to do

   Within 6 weeks of the transfer
3. 3
   Health body acts if needed

   If a health body can’t arrange the health provision, it asks the new council for a re-assessment or review

   Within 15 working days of becoming aware
4. 4
   New council reviews the plan

   The first review falls due, and runs as a normal annual review

   The later of 12 months from the last review, or 3 months from the transfer

That last line catches a lot of families out. The new council does not get to “park” your child’s plan until a far-off review. A review being scheduled changes nothing about delivery. Provision in Section F must carry on in full from day one, while you wait for any review to happen. When that first review does come round, it runs like any other annual review, so it’s worth knowing how to prepare for an annual review in advance.

If a deadline slips, you have recourse, and there’s a section on that below. A backlog or a staffing gap in the new area is not a lawful excuse for missing these dates, in the same way it isn’t for the original 20-week EHCP timeline.

Can the new council cut your child’s support after the move?

Not without following the law. The new council can review the plan, and it can propose changes, but it cannot quietly reduce or remove provision in Section F. Any change has to go through the statutory amendment process first.

That process is set out in regulation 22 of the SEND Regulations 2014. The council has to send you an amendment notice with the proposed changes. It must give you at least 15 days to make representations, then issue a final amended plan within 8 weeks. Until that’s done, the original Section F stands in full.

So there’s a clear line between what’s lawful and what isn’t.

The funding point is worth repeating, because it’s the most common excuse. A new council facing a tight SEND budget still owes your child the section 42 duty in full. If it’s reducing provision, ask in writing for the amendment notice. If there isn’t one, the cut is unlawful and you can say so plainly.

What if the school named in the plan is too far from your new home?

The new council must sort out a school place, and it can’t leave your child at home while it does. If the school named in Section I of the plan can’t reasonably be reached from your new address, the council has to arrange an interim place at an appropriate school or setting until the plan is formally amended.

This is confirmed in the Department for Education’s transfer guidance, which says that where attendance at the named school is no longer practicable because of the move, the new council “must place the child or young person at an appropriate school or educational institution until the plan is formally amended.”

The named school stays in the plan until that amendment happens. The council can’t change Section I just by writing to you. It has to follow the same amendment process: notice, at least 15 days for your views, then a final amended plan. If you disagree with the school it eventually names, you keep your right to appeal Section I.

What happens if you move to Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland?

This is the one move where the protection does not follow you. An EHCP is a creature of English law, and it has no legal force outside England. If you move to Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, no authority there is under a duty to maintain your child’s EHCP.

The old council should send a copy of the plan to the new area as a courtesy, so the new authority has the background. But the receiving authority isn’t bound by it, and you’re effectively starting the local process again.

Each nation runs its own system. Wales uses Individual Development Plans (IDPs), Scotland uses Co-ordinated Support Plans (CSPs), and Northern Ireland uses statements of special educational needs. The thresholds, the rights and the appeal routes are all different.

What should you do before and after the move?

Treat the move as a paper trail, not a phone call. The duties above only protect you if you can show what was in place and when you told each council. A short, written record turns a vague dispute into a clear one.

Here’s a practical run of actions for a move within England.

If the move is to Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, the steps are different: ask the old council to send a copy of the plan, then contact the new area’s SEND team to start their own assessment process.

You don’t have to manage all of this from memory or get the legal wording perfect on your own. The free SEND Parents Help assistant can help you draft the letters, name the right duty, and work out who to chase if a deadline passes.

What if the new council ignores the plan or misses the deadlines?

You escalate, and the law gives you several routes depending on what’s gone wrong. The key is matching the problem to the right forum, because the wrong one wastes months.

If the new council is delaying the transfer, missing the 6-week notification, or not delivering Section F, start by writing to its SEND team, citing regulation 15 and the section 42 duty, and ask for a written response. If that fails, you can complain to the council formally, then take it to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO), which investigates poor administration like missed deadlines and gaps in provision.

If the new council decides to cease the plan, or amends it in a way you disagree with, that’s a different route. You have the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability) under section 51 of the Children and Families Act 2014. The deadline is 2 months from the council’s decision, or 1 month from a mediation certificate if that’s later. Don’t let it pass.

The two routes don’t overlap, so it’s worth being clear which is which. The Tribunal handles the content of the plan and any decision to cease or amend it. The Ombudsman handles how the council behaved: late transfers, missed reviews, provision that never arrived. Pick the one that fits the failure.

If you’re not sure which route is yours, get advice before you act. The organisations below give free, expert help, and using the right forum first is often the difference between weeks and months.

Getting help

You don’t have to work this out alone. Several organisations offer free, specialist support for families moving with an EHCP in England.

• IPSEA (Independent Provider of Special Education Advice) gives free legal advice on EHCP transfers and appeals, and has a dedicated page on moving with an EHCP. Its guide to appealing to the SEND Tribunal covers the deadlines in detail.
• Your local SENDIASS (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information, Advice and Support Service) offers free, impartial advice in both your old and new areas. Find your nearest one through the Council for Disabled Children’s service finder.
• Contact runs a free helpline for families with disabled children and can talk through the practical side of a move.

Sources and further reading

Legislation

• Children and Families Act 2014, section 24 (which council is responsible)
• Children and Families Act 2014, section 42 (duty to secure Section F provision)
• Children and Families Act 2014, section 47 (transfer of EHCPs)
• Children and Families Act 2014, section 51 (right of appeal to the Tribunal)
• SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 15 (transfer between councils)
• SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 22 (amending an EHCP)

Official guidance

• SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (transfers at paragraphs 9.157 to 9.162)
• DfE guidance: EHC plans when a child or young person moves

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