EHCP league table 2025: which councils issue plans on time?

In 2025, councils in England issued 46.1% of new EHCPs within the legal 20-week time limit, according to Department for Education figures, down from 60.4% in 2019. Barnet, Bracknell Forest, Wandsworth and Windsor and Maidenhead issued every plan on time, while Derbyshire, Devon and Somerset issued fewer than 7 in every 100 on time.

We ranked 147 councils using the latest official data. Find your council in the table below, or check the exact deadlines for your child.

Key findings

• Fewer than half of plans are on time. 46.1% of new plans were issued within 20 weeks in 2025, compared with 46.4% in 2024 and 60.4% in 2019.
• 1 in 10 families waited more than a year. 9,871 new plans, 10.3% of the total, were issued more than 52 weeks after the request.
• Where you live matters. Four councils issued 100% of plans on time. In 11 councils, fewer than 1 in 10 plans were on time.
• The longest waits were in Essex. 1,362 new plans in Essex took more than a year, which is 60.4% of all its new plans. In Leeds, Cambridgeshire and Buckinghamshire, more than half of new plans took over a year.
• A big regional gap. London (61.6%), Yorkshire and The Humber (61.0%) and the North East (60.5%) did best. The East Midlands (32.4%) and the South West (32.9%) did worst.
• Size is no excuse. Liverpool issued 1,264 new plans and 97.3% were on time. Derbyshire issued 1,431 and 5.0% were on time.

How each region did

The full league table

All 147 councils with at least 20 new plans in 2025, ranked by the share issued within 20 weeks. Councils with the same figure share a rank.

Find your councilRegionAll of EnglandNorth EastNorth WestYorkshire and The HumberEast MidlandsWest MidlandsEast of EnglandLondonSouth EastSouth West

Rank	Council	Region	New plans	On time	Change since 2024 (points)	Took over a year
1	Barnet	London	600	100%	0	0%
1	Bracknell Forest	South East	120	100%	+54.2	0%
1	Wandsworth	London	392	100%	0	0%
1	Windsor and Maidenhead	South East	168	100%	0	0%
5	Barnsley	Yorkshire and The Humber	428	98.6%	+1.8	0%
5	North East Lincolnshire	Yorkshire and The Humber	287	98.6%	+61.8	0%
7	York	Yorkshire and The Humber	324	98.5%	+33.4	0%
8	Bury	North West	318	98.1%	-0.9	0.3%
9	Kensington and Chelsea	London	94	97.9%	-2.1	0%
10	Liverpool	North West	1,264	97.3%	-0.6	0%
10	Telford and Wrekin	West Midlands	338	97.3%	+9.9	0%
12	Kingston upon Thames	London	289	97.2%	+3.4	0%
13	Richmond upon Thames	London	227	96.5%	+2.3	0%
14	Walsall	West Midlands	301	96.3%	+9.2	0%
15	North Somerset	South West	397	96%	+34.5	0.3%
15	Sutton	London	251	96%	+19.5	0%
17	Merton	London	451	95.6%	+13.3	0%
18	Bedford	East of England	281	94.3%	+20.1	0%
19	Calderdale	Yorkshire and The Humber	457	94.1%	-1.5	0%
20	Middlesbrough	North East	300	93.3%	-4.7	0%
21	East Riding of Yorkshire	Yorkshire and The Humber	354	92.9%	-3.6	0.3%
21	Westminster	London	197	92.9%	-7.1	0%
23	South Tyneside	North East	175	92%	+21.1	0%
24	Haringey	London	270	89.6%	+5.4	0%
25	Surrey	South East	1,842	89.5%	+48.2	0.2%
26	Lambeth	London	387	89.1%	+1.9	0%
27	Harrow	London	407	88.2%	+49.5	0.5%
28	Hammersmith and Fulham	London	227	87.2%	+1.8	0%
29	Lincolnshire	East Midlands	1,133	86.8%	-12.2	0.1%
30	Bradford	Yorkshire and The Humber	1,382	86.5%	-3.1	0.2%
31	Knowsley	North West	339	86.4%	+31.2	0.6%
32	Bolton	North West	537	86%	+13.7	0%
33	Islington	London	316	85.8%	+6.3	0.3%
34	Doncaster	Yorkshire and The Humber	379	83.9%	-1	1.6%
35	Gateshead	North East	166	83.7%	+2.9	0%
36	Darlington	North East	119	81.5%	+9	0%
37	Northumberland	North East	554	81.4%	+32.4	0.4%
38	Rutland	East Midlands	88	80.7%	+2.3	0%
39	Wakefield	Yorkshire and The Humber	419	80.2%	-6	0.2%
40	Southampton	South East	310	80%	-17.5	0%
41	Blackburn with Darwen	North West	294	79.9%	-6.6	0.7%
42	Rotherham	Yorkshire and The Humber	524	79.4%	+1.7	0%
43	Dorset	South West	510	78.2%	n/a	0%
44	County Durham	North East	684	77.6%	+59.3	0.6%
44	Hillingdon	London	362	77.6%	-13.2	0%
46	Oldham	North West	143	76.9%	+0.3	0%
47	North Yorkshire	Yorkshire and The Humber	1,142	75.7%	+51.1	1.3%
48	Manchester	North West	1,115	74.2%	-2.6	0.6%
49	Solihull	West Midlands	204	74%	-6.4	0%
50	Warrington	North West	356	73.6%	+13.9	0.3%
51	Camden	London	196	73%	-23.6	0.5%
52	Westmorland and Furness	North West	347	72%	-19.6	0.3%
53	Bromley	London	523	71.3%	+6.6	0%
54	North Lincolnshire	Yorkshire and The Humber	368	70.4%	+51.8	0%
55	Brent	London	396	69.7%	-19.6	0%
56	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	South West	613	69%	-8.6	0%
57	Enfield	London	679	67.2%	-17.9	0.3%
58	Worcestershire	West Midlands	1,548	66.1%	+28.7	0%
59	Peterborough	East of England	403	66%	-23.4	1.7%
60	Bexley	London	457	65.9%	-2.7	0.4%
61	Kirklees	Yorkshire and The Humber	376	62.8%	+39.9	2.4%
62	Reading	South East	339	62.5%	+3.4	0.3%
63	Wiltshire	South West	610	61.6%	+32.1	0.5%
64	Croydon	London	1,038	61.2%	-11.6	0.5%
65	Hertfordshire	East of England	2,401	60.3%	+4	0.6%
66	St Helens	North West	431	59.6%	+30.8	7%
67	Sunderland	North East	165	59.4%	-19.7	1.2%
68	Stoke-on-Trent	West Midlands	511	58.7%	+25.9	0.2%
69	Hounslow	London	416	58.4%	-20.9	0%
70	Brighton and Hove	South East	397	57.4%	-40.4	0.3%
71	Herefordshire	West Midlands	379	57%	-10.6	1.3%
72	Kent	South East	1,756	56.9%	+23.6	0.6%
73	South Gloucestershire	South West	348	56.6%	-5	0.9%
74	North Northamptonshire	East Midlands	855	56.5%	+39.3	0.1%
75	Central Bedfordshire	East of England	437	56.3%	+7.5	0.2%
76	Blackpool	North West	240	55%	-6.6	0.4%
77	Salford	North West	370	54.9%	-7.7	0.3%
78	Stockton-on-Tees	North East	340	52.9%	-18.3	0%
79	Derby	East Midlands	466	52.6%	+36.2	10.1%
80	Ealing	London	661	52.2%	-19.3	3.5%
81	Hampshire	South East	3,322	52%	+11	0.3%
82	Rochdale	North West	375	49.3%	+7.1	0%
83	Trafford	North West	430	47.4%	-6	3.5%
84	Southend-on-Sea	East of England	558	47%	+30.9	13.1%
85	Tower Hamlets	London	683	46%	+6.3	2%
86	East Sussex	South East	341	43.1%	-42	0%
87	Wokingham	South East	286	43%	-13.8	0.7%
88	Portsmouth	South East	513	42.9%	+38.6	2.9%
88	Sefton	North West	581	42.9%	-10.2	3.1%
90	Southwark	London	425	42.8%	+6.8	0.7%
91	Oxfordshire	South East	1,411	37.8%	-0.7	0%
92	Coventry	West Midlands	559	37.6%	-25.8	0.2%
93	Kingston upon Hull	Yorkshire and The Humber	511	37.4%	+31.6	12.5%
94	Birmingham	West Midlands	1,408	37.1%	+10.4	0%
95	Thurrock	East of England	421	35.4%	-13.2	0.5%
96	Cornwall	South West	829	34.1%	+27.1	22.2%
97	Bath and North East Somerset	South West	374	33.2%	+8.4	2.1%
98	Hackney	London	405	32.8%	-10.5	3%
99	Nottinghamshire	East Midlands	1,038	32.3%	-5.2	0.1%
100	Havering	London	413	32%	+2.6	0%
101	Newham	London	807	31.5%	-26.1	14.5%
102	Greenwich	London	477	31.2%	-4.9	0.6%
103	Slough	South East	509	30.5%	+23	12.2%
104	Tameside	North West	631	30.3%	+0.9	2.9%
105	Nottingham	East Midlands	546	30.2%	+0.3	0%
106	Sandwell	West Midlands	884	29.8%	+2.6	30.9%
107	Luton	East of England	399	29.1%	+2	2.3%
108	Redbridge	London	645	27.9%	+20.9	7%
109	Sheffield	Yorkshire and The Humber	1,124	27.8%	-21.2	0%
110	Gloucestershire	South West	1,274	27.4%	+1.3	4.4%
111	Barking and Dagenham	London	276	27.2%	-0.5	3.6%
112	Torbay	South West	177	27.1%	-1.8	0%
113	North Tyneside	North East	346	26%	-14.7	2.3%
114	Waltham Forest	London	549	25.7%	-25.1	13.8%
115	West Berkshire	South East	258	25.2%	-30.6	0.8%
116	Dudley	West Midlands	359	25.1%	-27.2	1.7%
117	Staffordshire	West Midlands	1,211	24.6%	-11.7	13.5%
118	Cheshire East	North West	724	23.9%	-24	0.8%
119	Lewisham	London	354	22.9%	n/a	15.3%
120	Warwickshire	West Midlands	1,285	22.8%	+1.5	12.5%
121	Cheshire West and Chester	North West	670	22.1%	+6.3	0.7%
122	Wigan	North West	644	21.9%	-20.7	0.8%
123	Newcastle upon Tyne	North East	481	21.8%	+13	4.4%
124	Hartlepool	North East	98	21.4%	-53.2	2%
124	Medway	South East	1,034	21.4%	+9.5	40.8%
126	Leicestershire	East Midlands	2,187	20.3%	+16	19.3%
127	Essex	East of England	2,256	20.1%	+5.1	60.4%
128	Redcar and Cleveland	North East	191	19.9%	-25.8	0%
129	Wolverhampton	West Midlands	296	19.6%	-36.2	2%
130	Stockport	North West	535	18.1%	+10.3	15.9%
131	Suffolk	East of England	2,619	16.5%	-8.9	32.7%
132	West Sussex	South East	1,653	15.5%	+4.1	9.3%
133	Shropshire	West Midlands	379	11.9%	-24.6	8.7%
134	Swindon	South West	398	11.8%	-37.6	10.6%
135	Milton Keynes	South East	304	11.5%	-31.5	40.1%
136	Plymouth	South West	719	10.2%	+4.2	32.1%
137	Lancashire	North West	2,909	9.6%	-7.7	38.3%
138	Wirral	North West	1,322	8.2%	-4.4	39.9%
139	West Northamptonshire	East Midlands	1,174	7.9%	-4.3	24.1%
140	Buckinghamshire	South East	696	7.8%	-24.3	54.5%
141	Cambridgeshire	East of England	685	7.3%	-1.5	54.3%
141	Leeds	Yorkshire and The Humber	1,843	7.3%	-2	54.2%
143	Bristol	South West	952	6.8%	-10.6	24.2%
144	Cumberland	North West	285	6.7%	-35.9	2.8%
145	Somerset	South West	486	6.4%	-27.1	7.8%
146	Devon	South West	974	5.1%	+1.9	32.5%
147	Derbyshire	East Midlands	1,431	5%	-32.8	8.7%

Download the full data as a spreadsheet (CSV)

The councils most likely to be on time

1. Barnet: 100% on time (600 new plans)
2. Bracknell Forest: 100% on time (120 new plans)
3. Wandsworth: 100% on time (392 new plans)
4. Windsor and Maidenhead: 100% on time (168 new plans)
5. Barnsley: 98.6% on time (428 new plans)
6. North East Lincolnshire: 98.6% on time (287 new plans)
7. York: 98.5% on time (324 new plans)
8. Bury: 98.1% on time (318 new plans)
9. Kensington and Chelsea: 97.9% on time (94 new plans)
10. Liverpool: 97.3% on time (1,264 new plans)

The councils least likely to be on time

1. Derbyshire: 5% on time (1,431 new plans)
2. Devon: 5.1% on time (974 new plans)
3. Somerset: 6.4% on time (486 new plans)
4. Cumberland: 6.7% on time (285 new plans)
5. Bristol: 6.8% on time (952 new plans)
6. Leeds: 7.3% on time (1,843 new plans)
7. Cambridgeshire: 7.3% on time (685 new plans)
8. Buckinghamshire: 7.8% on time (696 new plans)
9. West Northamptonshire: 7.9% on time (1,174 new plans)
10. Wirral: 8.2% on time (1,322 new plans)

Biggest changes since 2024

Of the councils we could compare, about as many got worse as got better. Some changed a lot in a single year.

Most improved	2024	2025
North East Lincolnshire	36.8%	98.6%
County Durham	18.3%	77.6%
Bracknell Forest	45.8%	100%
North Lincolnshire	18.6%	70.4%
North Yorkshire	24.6%	75.7%

Biggest falls	2024	2025
Hartlepool	74.6%	21.4%
East Sussex	85.1%	43.1%
Brighton and Hove	97.8%	57.4%
Swindon	49.4%	11.8%
Wolverhampton	55.8%	19.6%

What this means for your family

A late plan is common, but it is still against the law. The 20-week time limit is the same in every council in England. It comes from regulation 13 of the SEND Regulations 2014, and it runs from the day the council received the request for an assessment.

1. Know your dates. Put the date the council got your request into our deadline checker to see each legal deadline. Read the EHCP timeline.
2. Chase in writing as soon as a deadline is missed. Use our free letter to chase a late council.
3. Complain if nothing changes, then go to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. Read what to do if the council misses an EHCP deadline.

How we made this table

• The data comes from the Department for Education’s Education, health and care plans release, published in June 2026. It covers new plans issued in the 2025 calendar year.
• Like the official figures, ours leave out the cases where the law allows the 20 weeks to be extended, such as when a child is away from home for a long time.
• We only rank councils that issued at least 20 new plans. The City of London (4 plans) and the Isles of Scilly (1 plan) are in the spreadsheet but not ranked.
• Four councils are missing. The Department for Education did not publish 2025 figures for Halton, Norfolk or the Isle of Wight, and Leicester could not provide the dates needed.
• Lewisham told the Department for Education that its 2024 figures were wrong, so we don’t show a change for Lewisham.
• Changes are in percentage points. We worked out each council’s 2025 share from the published counts, so a figure may differ from the official table by 0.1 because of rounding.

Sources

• Department for Education: Education, health and care plans, reporting year 2026
• Data set: Timeliness of new education, health and care plans
• SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 13