Medway
Parent advocacy and practical SEND help for families in Medway.
Use the official Medway Local Offer for the local process and services, then use In Your Corner's guidance and tools to organise the evidence, questions and next action.
Official Medway SEND routes
Medway SEND Information Hub
Medway Council's SEND Information Hub (Local Offer) brings together education, EHCP, health, social care and family-support information.
Visit official information ↗Medway SENDIASS
Medway SENDIASS provides free and impartial SEND information, advice and support to children, young people and families.
Visit Medway SENDIASS ↗EHC needs assessment
Medway Council publishes parent and school request routes plus information about the EHC needs assessment process.
View EHC assessment information ↗Disagreement routes
Medway Council publishes information about Way Forward meetings, mediation and First-tier Tribunal appeals.
View disagreement routes ↗Medway SEND reform: what has and has not changed
Medway Council papers for the 3 September 2026 Health and Wellbeing Board state that the Local Area SEND Reform Plan has been approved jointly by Medway Council, NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board and the wider Local Area Partnership. The plan describes the next stages of whole-system reform for a more sustainable, inclusive and outcomes-focused 0–25 SEND system. View the September board papers ↗
Targets to reduce EHC assessment requests, complaints or tribunal activity do not change the statutory test for an individual EHC needs assessment or remove existing SEN Support, reasonable-adjustment, EHCP or appeal rights. Ask what support is actually operating in your locality and how your child can access it.
We now keep a Kent & Medway SEND/NHS update watch so local reform, inspection and pathway changes can be checked in one place.
Medway Council has listed its Local Area SEND Reform Plan for Cabinet determination on 17 November 2026. DfE approval of the plan is confirmed, but the scheduled Cabinet decision had not yet been taken when checked on 9 November. Review the papers as they become available and look for concrete commitments on funding, access, health partners, timetables and accountability. Read the official decision record ↗ · Our 9 November briefing →.
Reform objectives do not change the legal threshold for an individual EHC assessment request or the council's duty to secure existing EHCP provision.
Practical IYC routes
How IYC fits alongside local services
Use Medway Council's official information for the current process, forms and public-service contact routes. IYC's role is different: helping a family turn a complicated situation into a clear chronology, evidence map, set of questions and next action.
Practical parent-advocacy guidance, not legal or clinical advice. Core guidance reviewed 22 September 2026; Cabinet and DfE reform-plan position checked 9 November 2026 against the official sources linked on this page. See how we write, check and correct guidance.
Official Medway sources
Medway Health & Wellbeing Board: Local Area SEND Reform Plan — 3 September 2026 ↗Medway SEND Information Hub / Local Offer ↗Medway SENDIASS ↗Medway: requesting an EHC needs assessment ↗Medway: appeal an EHC assessment decision ↗Medway Council Early Help / Family Solutions ↗Core local guidance reviewed 22 September 2026; 12 October event information checked 9 October 2026. Medway Council and relevant NHS services remain the source of truth for their current local processes.