Every council in England had to submit a Local SEND Reform Plan to the Department for Education by 18 June 2026, and that deadline has now passed. Writing the plan was the easier half. Councils are now accountable for delivering what they promised, on top of the SEND service they were already running, and that is where the real opportunity for the next few years sits: building the capacity to do both at once.

What has actually changed since the reform plans went in?

Before June, SEND teams were describing what better provision could look like: earlier intervention that catches need before it escalates, stronger partnership working between education, health and care, more consistent plans, and better outcomes for children and families. The reform goes further than practice on the ground, too. The government’s Schools White Paper sets a decade-long direction toward mainstream inclusion, and proposes reserving EHCPs for children with the most complex needs while introducing a quicker Individual Support Plan for everyone else. That end point is years away, but it is the context every SEND team is now planning against.

Now councils are accountable for delivering what they promised today, and the funding reflects that shift. Councils carrying a SEND deficit can get a High Needs Stability Grant covering 90% of what built up to the end of 2025 to 2026, but only once their Local SEND Reform Plan is approved. Support for the deficits that follow in 2027 to 2028 will depend on showing delivery against that plan, not on having submitted one. The conversation with government has moved from what a council intends to do to what it can show it has actually done.

What hasn’t changed for SEND teams?

The statutory clock kept running while the plans were being written, and it is still running now. A new request for an EHC needs assessment still has to be decided, assessed and finalised within 20 weeks end to end, the same hard deadline as before reform. Every existing EHCP must still be reviewed within 12 months of being finalised, and again within 12 months of each review after that. Annual review meetings still have to happen, the four-week window to decide on amendments and the eight-week window to issue them are unchanged, and a plan due for a phase transfer still has to be amended by the same fixed dates as before.

Caseloads have not shrunk to make room for reform, parents still expect the same responsiveness they always have, and the workforce pressure SEND teams were carrying in May is the same pressure they are carrying now. SEND teams are, in effect, running two systems side by side: today’s statutory service and tomorrow’s reformed one.

Where can councils create the capacity reform now demands?

We build AI for council services, so we will say plainly where we think it helps: reform succeeds when the operational pressure underneath it is under control, and that is a capacity problem before it is a technology one.

40+ councils have signed up to use Agilisys’ EHCP Agent, and demand for exactly this kind of support keeps climbing. Local authorities are already reporting a “very significant surge” in requests for EHC needs assessments as parents move to secure a plan before the reforms change what’s on offer, on top of the demand SEND teams were already managing. On average, the tool gives caseworkers back 75% of the time they used to spend drafting plans, without taking the professional judgement out of their hands; it produces a first draft, and the caseworker still decides what goes in it.

“The biggest benefit is the speed at which EHCPs are now created and the improved quality of those plans.”

— EHC Plan Writer

“Previously, writing an EHCP took me about a day, but now I can manage two or even three a day.”

— SEND Lead, Pilot Council
  • 40+
    councils signed up to use the EHCP Agent
  • 75%
    average drafting time saved per plan
  • 17,000+
    hours returned to frontline staff

Annual Review Agent is in development to bring the same consistency and evidence to the review cycle: structured records, a clearer audit trail, and less time spent assembling paperwork before a decision can even be made. Alongside it, QuickAction automates the repetitive administrative work that sits around both processes, the kind of task that fills a caseworker’s day without ever touching a child’s outcome. The caseworker keeps every judgement call. The tool just gives them more of the day to spend on it, and the skill stays with the council’s own team with or without us.

What does delivery-ready actually look like?

The SEND services most likely to succeed under reform are the ones that build the most capacity, whatever the size of their plan. The next few years ask councils to run today’s statutory service and build tomorrow’s system at the same time, and both are achievable if the administrative load sitting between them is smaller than it was in June. That is a realistic bar. The councils already using EHCP Agent are some of the closest to clearing it, because the load it removes from caseworkers is exactly the load reform now expects them to absorb.

Key takeaways

  • Every council submitted a Local SEND Reform Plan to the Department for Education by 18 June 2026; delivery against that plan, not the plan itself, now determines future funding support.
  • Statutory EHCP timescales, including the 20-week deadline for new assessments and the 12-month review cycle, are unchanged and still apply through reform.
  • 40+ councils have signed up to use EHCP Agent, which returns 75% of drafting time to caseworkers on average; Annual Review Agent is in development for the same effect on the review cycle.
  • The councils most likely to succeed under reform are the ones that build the most capacity, whatever the size of their plan.

Frequently asked questions

What happened to Local SEND Reform Plans after 18 June 2026?

Every council in England submitted its Local SEND Reform Plan to the Department for Education by 18 June 2026. Councils are now accountable for delivering what they planned, and government support for high-needs deficits in 2027 to 2028 will depend on showing delivery against the approved plan, not just having submitted one.

Do EHCP statutory timescales still apply during SEND reform?

Yes. New EHC needs assessments still carry the same 20-week deadline, and every existing EHCP must still be reviewed within 12 months of being finalised, and again within 12 months after that. The four and eight-week decision windows are unchanged too, so caseworkers face the same statutory clock through reform as before it.

How is Agilisys helping councils create capacity for SEND reform?

40+ councils have signed up to use EHCP Agent, which gives caseworkers back 75% of the time they used to spend drafting plans on average. Annual Review Agent is in development to bring the same consistency and time saving to the review cycle.

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