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• 22 May 2026

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The answer is likely to depend on the precise statutory route engaged under the Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018 and the stage reached in the Local Authority’s decision-making process at the point the child was removed from the school roll.

However in general terms if:

• a valid request had already been made for the Local Authority to review and revise a school-maintained Individual Development Plan
• the request included consideration of whether the plan should become Local Authority maintained
• and the Local Authority had not yet lawfully determined the request

then the subsequent removal of the child from the school roll does not necessarily extinguish the Local Authority’s obligations.

The critical legal question is usually not whether the child remains on a school roll but whether:

• the child is a child in the Authority’s area
• the child may have Additional Learning Needs
• and a Local Authority maintained Individual Development Plan may be required.

Where the panel has merely deferred determination pending further evidence from the school the removal from roll may undermine the practical basis upon which the Authority intended to proceed. In those circumstances the Authority should ordinarily reconsider the evidential route rather than treating the request as automatically spent.

There are several important principles likely to apply.

1. The Local Authority’s duties are child-centred not institution-centred

The statutory scheme is focused on identifying and securing provision for children and young people with Additional Learning Needs. The disappearance of the educational placement does not necessarily remove the need for assessment or determination.

If the child is no longer attending the school then the Authority may still need to decide:

• whether the child has Additional Learning Needs
• whether an Individual Development Plan is necessary
• whether the Authority itself should prepare and maintain that plan.

 

2. The Local Authority cannot necessarily insist upon school evidence that can no longer be produced

If the Authority delayed determination solely because it wished the school to produce additional interventions data observations or graduated response evidence then removal from roll may make that impossible.

The Authority should then consider:

• existing educational psychology evidence
• previous school records
• medical evidence
• parental evidence
• private assessments
• attendance and exclusion history
• evidence of inability to access education
• evidence relating to Emotionally Based School Avoidance or unmet need where relevant.

A failure to proceed because evidence from the former school is unavailable may arguably amount to an unlawful fettering of statutory discretion or a failure to discharge investigative duties.

3. A fresh request may not be required where there is already a live statutory process

If the original request remains undetermined then in most cases the better view is that the Local Authority should continue and conclude that process.

A new request may only become necessary where:

• the Authority has formally refused the request
• statutory timescales have expired and the process has ended
• the original request was procedurally invalid
• or there has been a material change such that an entirely new determination is required.

Otherwise requiring a parent to restart the process from the beginning may be vulnerable to challenge particularly where delay has already occurred.

4.  Removal from roll may strengthen the argument for Local Authority involvement

Paradoxically if the child is no longer on roll this may increase the importance of Local Authority involvement because:

• there may no longer be a governing body capable of maintaining the plan
• provision may no longer be deliverable through ordinary school resources
• there may be heightened risk of educational disengagement
• the child may require alternative provision or specialist placement consideration.

The Local Authority may therefore need to consider whether it has become the appropriate body to maintain the Individual Development Plan precisely because no school can now do so effectively.

5. Elective Home Education and children out of school

If the child has become electively home educated or otherwise out of school the Local Authority may still retain duties in relation to Additional Learning Needs. The precise scope depends on the child’s circumstances and whether the child remains registered at any setting.

Authorities should avoid assuming that deregistration removes all ALN obligations. The statutory framework envisages circumstances in which Local Authorities continue to owe duties to children educated otherwise than at school.

6. Practical procedural position

In practice the parent or representative may wish to write immediately to the Local Authority:

• confirming that the original request remains live
• asking the Authority to clarify the statutory basis upon which it proposes to proceed
• requesting confirmation that the matter will not be closed solely because the child is no longer on roll
• asking the Authority to identify what further evidence it now intends to obtain
• requesting updated timescales for determination.

If the Authority seeks to terminate the process the parent may wish to request a formal written decision identifying:

• the statutory power relied upon
• appeal rights
• and reasons for concluding that the Authority no longer has a duty to determine the request.

GO

Gabriella O'Grady

22 May 2026

This is helpful

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