6 Week EHCP Decision Late Chaser Letter: What Parents Need to Know and Do

If you are searching for a 6 week EHCP decision late chaser letter, it usually means the local authority has missed the legal deadline for deciding whether to carry out an Education, Health and Care needs assessment.

Many parents wait quietly, assuming delays are normal or that chasing will cause friction. In reality, the law sets clear timescales for councils to follow. The six week deadline is not a guideline or a target. It is a statutory requirement, and the local authority is missing it.

A calm, clearly structured chaser letter can move the case forward and create a formal record of the delay. This guide explains the six week rule, how to write the letter, and what to do if the council still does not respond.

What Is the Six Week EHCP Decision Deadline?

When a parent, school or professional requests an Education, Health and Care needs assessment, the local authority must decide whether to proceed. Under Regulation 5 of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, the council must notify the family of its decision within six weeks of receiving the request. This applies whether the decision is yes to assess or no.

This six week requirement is confirmed in the SEND Code of Practice 2015 published by the Department for Education, which sets out the full timeline for the EHCP process. The code makes clear that the six week clock starts from the date the local authority receives the request, not from the date you sent it.

If the council refuses to assess, parents have a right of appeal to the SEND Tribunal. If the council agrees to assess, the process continues through further stages with its own deadlines. When no decision is issued within six weeks, the council is in breach of a statutory obligation.

There are very limited exceptions to the six week rule, covering circumstances such as a family experiencing exceptional personal circumstances or a child being absent from the area for four weeks or more. Administrative backlogs, staff shortages and high volumes of requests are not lawful exceptions.

The Full EHCP Timeline: Where the Six Week Deadline Sits

Understanding where the six week decision sits within the broader process helps you see what is at stake when it is missed. Each stage has its own statutory deadline and a delay at week six can push back every subsequent step.

• Week 6: Local authority must decide whether to carry out an EHC needs assessment

• Week 16: Local authority must decide whether to issue an EHCP following the assessment

• Weeks 16 to 20: Draft EHCP sent to parents with at least 15 days to comment

• Week 20: Final EHCP must be issued

A delay at the first stage does not pause the 20 week clock. The full process is still expected to complete within 20 weeks of the original request. Missing week six therefore compresses every stage that follows and reduces the time available for the family to review and challenge the draft plan.

Why Sending the Chaser Letter Matters

Many councils manage high volumes of EHCP requests and cases can stall because of administrative backlogs, missing reports or resourcing pressures. None of these are lawful reasons for missing the deadline, but they are common reasons cases go quiet.

Sending a structured chaser letter does three important things. It puts the council on formal notice that you are aware of the deadline and it has been missed. It creates a written record showing the delay was raised, which becomes relevant if you need to complain or escalate later. And it signals clearly that you understand the legal timeframe and expect the process to move forward.

Parents dealing with SEND matters in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole can find relevant local information through the BCP Council SEND Local Offer and the BCP Council EHC needs assessment process page. Understanding both the national rules and how your specific local authority runs the process helps you frame your chaser letter accurately.

Step-by-Step Guide: What to Do When the Six Week Deadline Is Missed

Step 1: Confirm the Original Request Date

Check the exact date the assessment request was submitted and, where possible, the date the council received it. The six week clock starts from receipt, not submission. If you submitted the request by email, your sent items will show the date. If you submitted through a council portal, check for an acknowledgement email or reference number.

Keep a copy of the submission and any acknowledgement. This date is the foundation of your chaser letter and any subsequent complaint if needed.

Step 2: Check Whether a Decision Has Already Been Issued

Before sending a chaser, confirm that no decision has been issued through another route. Councils sometimes send letters through schools, upload to portals, or send to an address that has changed. Check with the school's SENCO and look through any council portal account you have. If the decision has simply been delayed in reaching you, this step avoids confusion and keeps the correspondence straightforward.

Step 3: Write a Structured Week 6 Chaser Letter

Your letter should be short, factual and easy for the SEND team to process quickly. It should state the date the request was submitted, reference the six week statutory decision deadline and the specific regulation, ask for confirmation of the decision, and request a response within a short defined timeframe.

Keep the tone calm. A chaser letter that is measured and clearly referenced to statute is taken more seriously than one that expresses frustration. You are not asking a favour. You are noting that a legal deadline has passed and asking for it to be addressed.

If you want to see how structured letters are used across different disputes involving schools, councils and public authorities, examples are outlined on the LetterLab's areas we help with page.

Step 4: Send the Letter to the Correct Team

For BCP Council, send the chaser to the SEND statutory team. You can find the named EHC Co-ordinator assigned to your child’s school through the BCP Council EHCP Case Officers list. If a case officer has been assigned, send directly to them. If not, use the council’s central SEND team contact. Use a clear subject line such as ‘EHCP assessment request – week 6 decision overdue’ to ensure the message reaches the correct person immediately.

Step 5: Keep a Written Record

Save copies of the original request, the chaser letter and any replies. Note the dates everything was sent and received. This documentation becomes important if the delay continues and you need to use the council complaints process or escalate to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman.

Week 6 Chaser Letter Template

Below is a template you can adapt and use immediately. Insert your own details in the bracketed sections.

[Your name]

[Your address]

[Date]

SEND Statutory Team / [Named EHC Co-ordinator if known]

[Local authority name and address]

Subject: EHC Needs Assessment Request – Six Week Decision Deadline Overdue

Dear [Name / SEND Team],

I am writing regarding my request for an Education, Health and Care needs assessment for my child, [child’s name, date of birth], submitted on [insert date].

Under Regulation 5(3) of the Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014, the local authority is required to notify me of its decision within six weeks of receiving the request. As of today, [insert date], that deadline has passed and I have not received a decision.

I would be grateful if you could confirm the decision as a matter of urgency and provide the relevant written notification. If a decision has already been issued and I have not received it, please resend the correspondence to [your email address or address].

I would appreciate a response by [insert date, 7 days from today].

Kind regards,

[Your name]

[Contact details]

This letter is short, references the specific regulation and requests a clear response within a defined timeframe. That combination is harder to delay than a general enquiry.

What If the Council Still Does Not Respond?

If the council does not respond to the chaser letter within the timeframe you have requested, a structured follow up sequence is more effective than repeated informal emails. Send a second letter that references the original chaser, restates the specific deadline that has been missed, and states clearly that you are considering escalating through the formal complaints process.

If the issue remains unresolved after a formal complaint to the council, you can escalate to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. The Ombudsman investigates whether councils have followed the correct statutory process and timescales. A well-documented trail of chaser letters, response dates and complaint submissions is exactly the evidence the Ombudsman will want to see. You must normally exhaust the council’s own complaints process before the Ombudsman will investigate.

Independent advice and support for SEND matters in the BCP area is available through SENDIASS BCP, which provides free, impartial guidance to parents and young people navigating the EHCP process. This can be particularly useful if you are considering whether to appeal a refusal decision or challenge a delay through formal channels.

What Happens If the Council Refuses to Assess After the Delay?

If the council eventually issues a decision refusing to carry out the assessment, you have the right to appeal to the First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability). The appeal deadline runs from the date of the refusal letter, not from the date the deadline was missed, so a delayed refusal does not reduce your time to appeal.

Before lodging a tribunal appeal you must consider mediation. This does not mean mediation is compulsory, but you must contact a mediation adviser and either attend mediation or obtain a mediation certificate confirming you have decided not to mediate. The Children and Families Act 2014 sets out the full framework for appeals and mediation in Part 3.

A late refusal following a missed six week deadline is also relevant context for any complaint or appeal. The fact that the council took longer than the statutory period to reach its decision is part of the record.

How SEND Teams Read Chaser Letters

SEND teams typically review chaser letters quickly to check whether the six week deadline has genuinely passed, whether the request date is correctly stated, whether a decision letter has already been issued through another route, and whether the case needs internal escalation.

A short, clearly structured letter helps the team identify the issue immediately and act on it. Long messages that mix frustration with the substantive request can slow processing because the key information becomes harder to extract. The opening sentence is the most important part. It should state clearly what the letter is about and what has been missed.

If you want to make sure the opening paragraph of your letter signals the issue precisely and is structured to prompt action rather than delay, the team at LetterLab  can review and strengthen it before you send.

Self-Check Before Sending Your Chaser Letter

Before sending the letter, work through these questions.

1. Have you confirmed the exact date the assessment request was received by the council?

2. Has six full weeks passed from that date?

3. Have you checked through the school SENCO and any council portal to confirm no decision has already been issued?

4. Does the letter reference Regulation 5(3) of the SEND Regulations 2014 specifically?

5. Have you requested a response within a defined timeframe, typically seven days?

6. Is the tone factual and calm rather than frustrated?

A letter that passes all six checks is clear, correctly referenced and easy for the SEND team to act on without delay.

The Key Takeaway: Know the Deadline, Use It

Missing the six week EHCP decision deadline is more common than many parents expect, but that does not make it acceptable or unavoidable. The law is clear and the timeline is fixed. A calm, structured chaser letter that references the specific regulation is the most direct way to move the case forward while keeping the record clean.

If the council responds and issues a decision, the process can continue. If it does not, you have the documentation needed to escalate through complaints or Ombudsman routes with confidence.

The six week rule exists to protect children and families from indefinite administrative delay. Using it clearly and calmly is exactly what it is there for.

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