EHCP annual reviews in Barnsley
Every EHC plan must be reviewed once a year, and the council has four weeks after the review meeting to tell you what it has decided. This page shows how often Barnsley met that deadline in 2025, what happened to the plans it reviewed, and what you can do when the four weeks pass in silence.
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36.8%
of review decisions reached families within the legal 4 weeks (England: 47.6%)
224
reviews expected in 2025 that Barnsley did not record as completed
2,181
reviews Barnsley completed during 2025
What these numbers measure
The percentage is the share of review decisions the council actually communicated that arrived inside four weeks of the meeting. It covers completed reviews, so it is not a share of every plan the council holds.
"Not recorded as completed" is the Department for Education's own wording. A review that was held but logged badly and a review that never happened look identical in this data, so we report it the way DfE does.
What the Barnsley figure suggests
Barnsley communicated 36.8% of its annual review decisions inside the four weeks the law allows, below the England figure of 47.6%. If you are still waiting to hear what the council decided, you are in the majority here, and the four week duty applies in full whatever the local backlog.
Out of 151 councils with usable figures for 2025, Barnsley ranks 92nd for communicating review decisions on time. Separately, 8% of the reviews expected here during the year were not recorded as completed.
Barnsley annual reviews in 2025
| Measure | Barnsley | England |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews expected during 2025 | 2,803 | 596,987 |
| Reviews completed during 2025 | 2,181 | 339,027 |
| Reviews not recorded as completed | 224 | 157,881 |
| Decision communicated within 4 weeks | 803 | 161,396 |
| Decision communicated after 4 weeks | 1,378 | 177,631 |
| Share inside the legal 4 weeks | 36.8% | 47.6% |
What Barnsley decided at those reviews
A review ends in one of three decisions: keep the plan as it is, amend it, or stop maintaining it. Amendment is the most common outcome nationally, and it is the one that starts a second set of deadlines.
| Outcome | Barnsley | England |
|---|---|---|
| Plan amended | 1,338 | 199,980 |
| Plan maintained as it was | 826 | 120,460 |
| Plan ceased | 17 | 3,300 |
| No outcome recorded | 0 | 15,287 |
Work out whether your review is already late
The four weeks run from the date of the review meeting, so the deadline is fixed the day the meeting happens. Put that date in and we will tell you the day the council became late, along with every other deadline running in your case.
The annual review timetable in Barnsley
These deadlines are national law. They apply in Barnsley exactly as they apply in every other English council, whatever the local caseload.
| Stage | Deadline | The law |
|---|---|---|
| Review of the plan | Within 12 months of the plan being made, then within 12 months of each review | CFA 2014, s.44(1); CoP 9.169 |
| Notice of the review meeting | At least 2 weeks before it | Reg 20(3) |
| Advice and information circulated | At least 2 weeks before the meeting | Reg 20(4) |
| Written report of the meeting | Within 2 weeks of the meeting | Regs 20(7) to (9) |
| Council's decision to maintain, amend or cease | Within 4 weeks of the meeting | Reg 20(10); reg 21(9); CoP 9.176 |
| Your window to respond to a proposed amendment | At least 15 days | Reg 22(2) |
| Amended final plan issued | Within 8 weeks of the amendment notice | Reg 22(3) |
When the four weeks pass and nothing arrives
Take the date of the review meeting and count four weeks. Once that date has gone, write to the council naming the meeting date and asking for the decision, quoting regulation 20(10). Keep the letter, because a dated record is what makes a later complaint work.
Case Manager tells you the review date, chases it with the overdue review letter, and records the council's decision. Sign up for Case Manager
If the decision still does not come, the council's own complaints process is the next step, then the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which regularly upholds annual review delay complaints and can recommend a financial remedy. The steps and the wording are in our guide to what to do when the council misses a deadline.
Watch the second clock too. If the council decides to amend, it must send you the amendment notice with at least 15 days to respond (regulation 22(2)) and issue the amended final plan within 8 weeks of that notice (regulation 22(3)). That 8 week deadline slips more often than the 4 week one, and it is the one that decides what your child actually receives.
A refusal to amend after a review carries a right of appeal, as does a decision to cease the plan (section 51(2)(e)). Our page on appealing an EHCP decision in Barnsley covers the deadline and the mediation step.
A review is due within 12 months of the plan or the last review. Case Manager tells you the date, chases it with the overdue review letter, and records the council's decision so the next clock starts on time. One subscription covers up to four children.
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Have the annual review deadlines emailed to you
We will send you the six statutory deadlines, including the 4 week decision limit and the 8 week amendment limit, each with the regulation behind it. Then a short series on what to do when Barnsley misses one. Free, and one click to stop.
Common questions about annual reviews in Barnsley
How long does Barnsley have to tell me the outcome of an annual review?
Four weeks from the review meeting. The council must tell you whether it will maintain the plan as it is, amend it, or cease to maintain it (SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 20(10), and regulation 21(9) where your child does not attend a school or college; SEND Code of Practice 9.176). In 2025 Barnsley met that deadline in 36.8% of cases, against 47.6% across England.
How often does Barnsley miss the annual review deadline?
Of the 2,181 review decisions Barnsley communicated in 2025, 1,378 took longer than four weeks. Across England the figure was 177,631 out of 339,027. Local performance never changes the deadline itself.
What does "reviews not recorded as completed" mean?
It is the Department for Education's own wording for reviews that were expected in the year and that the council did not record as completed. Barnsley reported 224 of them in 2025. It does not automatically mean no meeting was held, because a recording failure and a missed review look the same in this data. Either way, the plan must still be reviewed within 12 months of the last one (Children and Families Act 2014, section 44(1)).
What can I do if Barnsley has not told me the outcome?
Write to the council with the date of the review meeting and ask for the decision, citing regulation 20(10) and the four week limit. If nothing comes, use the council complaints process and then the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which regularly upholds complaints about annual review delay. Our free deadline checker works out the exact date the four weeks expired.
Can I appeal a decision made after an annual review?
Yes. You can appeal a refusal to amend the plan after a review, and a decision to cease to maintain it (Children and Families Act 2014, section 51(2)(e)). A notice continuing the plan unamended, or ceasing it, must set out those appeal rights and the mediation information (SEND Regulations 2014, regulation 20(11)). An amended final plan carries fresh appeal rights of its own (regulation 22(5); section 51(3)(b)).
Read next
- EHCP timescales in Barnsley, including how often new plans arrive on time
- Appealing an EHCP decision in Barnsley
- How the annual review works, stage by stage
- What to do when the council misses a deadline
- Compare every council in England
Source: Department for Education (DfE) / Explore Education Statistics, Education, health and care plans, Reporting year 2026, published 2026-06-25, file data/annual_reviews.csv. Calendar year 2025. Column meanings are DfE's own, from data-guidance.txt in the release. Percentages are calculated from the published counts. This page is legal information, not legal advice. See the official dataset.