Missed the 15-day EHCP response deadline?
What to do if the 15-day window for comments on a draft EHCP has passed: send late comments anyway, and know your appeal rights.
The 15-day window is important — but missing it is not a disaster. Here is the honest picture.
1. Send your comments anyway
Councils frequently consider late representations before finalising a plan — the law requires them to respond to representations made, and in practice a well-argued late letter often still influences the final draft. Send it immediately, apologise briefly for the timing, and ask the council to treat it as representations on the draft.
2. The final plan can still be challenged
Even after finalisation, you can appeal Sections B, F and I to the SEND Tribunal (normally within two months of the final plan). Nothing in your draft response stops you from appealing later — the 15-day window is your strongest position, not your only one.
3. Ask for an early annual review
If the plan is already final and wrong, the council can amend it at review — and you can ask for an early review rather than waiting twelve months.
For next time
Diary the deadline from the date on the covering letter, not the date you opened the envelope. Our checker shows your deadline dates automatically when you enter the date the draft was sent.