Transferring an EHCP When You Move to a New Council

Moving house is stressful at the best of times. When your child has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), the worry is sharper: will the new local authority honour the plan, will the support carry on, and could you lose provision you fought hard to win? The reassuring answer is that the plan transfers with your child and the new authority must maintain it. There are clear rules to protect provision during the move, but the process needs managing so nothing slips. Last updated June 2026.

This guide explains what happens to an EHCP when you move local authority, the rules that protect your child during the transfer, how the school placement is handled, and the practical steps that stop support being lost in the gap.

The Plan Moves With Your Child

An EHCP is a legal document, and when a child or young person moves from one local authority area to another, responsibility for the plan transfers to the new authority. The new authority must maintain the existing plan. It does not start again, it does not get to ignore the plan while it makes up its mind, and it cannot quietly drop provision. The plan your child had on the day before the move is the plan the new authority must deliver on the day after.

This is one of the most important protections in the system, because it stops a move becoming an excuse to strip away hard-won support. If you understand nothing else about transferring a plan, understand this: the duty to maintain the plan passes to the new authority immediately.

What the New Authority Can and Cannot Do

The new local authority can review the plan, and often will, because it will want to satisfy itself about the provision and the school. What it cannot do is change the plan without following the proper review process, which includes consulting you as the parent and giving you the chance to contribute. While any review is under way, the existing provision continues. A review is not a reason to pause support.

If the new authority proposes to amend the plan after a review, your rights are the same as they always are. You can challenge proposed changes, and if the authority issues an amended plan you disagree with, you can appeal to the SEND Tribunal. For how reviews work, read our guide on the EHCP annual review, and for appeals read how to appeal to the SEND Tribunal.

The School Placement

The school named in Section I of the plan is tied to where you live. When you move, the original school may no longer be practical because of distance, so the new authority will usually need to name a school it can secure in its area. You keep your right to express a preference for a particular school and to have your reasons considered, and if you disagree with the school the authority names, you can appeal the placement.

Plan the school question early. If you know where you are moving, you can begin discussing suitable schools with the new authority before the move completes, which reduces the risk of your child being out of a suitable placement during the transition. For how placement decisions are made, see how to get an EHCP.

Practical Steps to Protect Your Child

First, tell both authorities in writing as soon as you have a confirmed moving date. Ask the new authority to confirm in writing that it will maintain the existing plan and to set out its timescale for any review and for naming a school. Second, keep a complete copy of the current plan and all supporting reports, so you can show exactly what provision must continue. Third, do not let provision lapse: if the new authority is slow, point to its legal duty to maintain the plan from the date of the move.

Fourth, get the health and social care elements moving too. Therapy and health provision named in the plan need to be picked up by services in the new area, which can take time to arrange, so flag them early. If anything stalls or you face delay, our guide on challenging local authority decisions sets out how to escalate, and a complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is available where an authority fails in its duties.

How EHCP Expert Helps

EHCP Expert helps you manage a cross-authority move by producing clear letters that hold the new authority to its duty to maintain the existing plan, confirm provision must continue from the date of the move, and request timescales for any review and for naming a school. The chatbot can talk you through the transfer rules for your situation, and the case tracking tools help you keep every report and deadline in one place during what is otherwise an easy time to lose paperwork.