Moving out of Kent with an education, health and care (EHC) plan
Moving to a new area is a big change, and having an education, health and care (EHC) plan can raise extra questions about how your child’s support will continue.
This page is for families who are moving out of Kent and already have an EHC plan in place. It explains what usually happens, what you need to do before you move, and how we work with your new local authority to transfer your child’s plan.
Every child is different, so support arrangements may vary depending on where you’re moving to.
1. Tell us you're moving
You must tell us at least 15 working days before you move.
This gives us time to transfer details of your EHC plan to your new local authority (LA). If you do not tell us within 15 days of your move, we will transfer the details within 15 days of you telling us.
2. Find a suitable education setting
Once you tell your new local authority you're moving, they must agree if your child or young person can still attend their current education setting. If it's not practical to continue, they will find a suitable temporary education setting.
They will not start looking for an education setting until they have confirmation that the move outside of Kent has taken place.
3. Review your child or young person's EHC plan
After your new local authority has received your EHC plan, they will contact you within 6 weeks. They will let you know when they plan to review the EHC plan, or if they decide to carry out a new EHC needs assessment.
They will then contact their local NHS SEND Team and ask them to review the health section on your EHC plan. They will help your new local authority to understand and check whether the health needs and health support shown in your EHC plan can be met through their commissioned services. A commissioned service is a service that we fund, but someone else offers.
4. Annual review meeting
Within the first 3 months of moving, or within either 12 months of the original plan being issued or last reviewed, your new local authority will review it (whichever is later).
This forms part of the annual review process meeting.
At the meeting, your child or young person's needs, which have been observed by the education setting, are reviewed. They will also review whether the chosen education setting is appropriate. Once the annual review has taken place, the EHC plan will be transferred from us to your new local authority.
Child in care
If a child in care is moving out of Kent, we will:
- tell the new LA of the move
- find a place at an education setting
- be responsible for the funding.