Personal budgets
A personal budget is money given to you by the council to help get the intended results or outcomes of an education, health and care (EHC) plan.
Personal budgets allow you to control how the money is spent, and give you more flexibility and choice.
A personal budget can be requested from the council when you get a draft or proposed amended EHC plan.
You cannot get a personal budget without an EHC plan.
Managing a personal budget
Personal budgets are normally managed by the parents or carers of a child with special educational needs or disabilities (SEND), particularly if the child is under 16.
Young people with SEND aged 16 to 25 may choose to:
- manage their own personal budget if they are able to
- use a third party to manage the money on their behalf
You can choose to:
- take the money as a direct payment and pay for the services you need
- ask the council to pay for services you need from your personal budget allocation
You do not need to have a personal budget. If you choose not to have a personal budget, the money will be managed by the council to help meet the outcomes of your EHC plan.
A personal budget is not the total of all money made available to support a child or young person with SEND. For example, it does not include the cost of a school place or existing help from an education provider.
What can the personal budget be used for?
Personal budgets can have several different elements, which can include:
The council may provide top up funding to the education provider named in an EHC plan.
An education provider can be:
- early years settings such as nurseries or preschools
- schools
- providers of further education such as colleges
Top up funding helps education providers give you extra support, which they cannot afford from their normal funding.
You can choose to have this top up funding paid into your personal budget.
The council will provide this funding on a termly basis.
You can spend the money on things that will be used at the education provider’s premises to help meet the outcomes of an EHC plan, such as:
- services
- equipment
But you can only do this if the headteacher or principal of your education provider agrees.
You cannot usually spend the money on services provided to the council on contract, as we already get the best possible value for these. This includes:
- speech and language therapy
- occupational therapy
Social care support for children and young people with SEND can include:
- help in your home
- support to access community events
You can use a personal budget to pay these social care costs.
Personal budgets can also be used for short breaks.
When a child changes from child social care to adult social care, they will get a personal budget as standard to pay for social care services and support.
A personal health budget is money to support your health and wellbeing if you have SEND, or are looking after a child with SEND.
How this money is used is planned and agreed between you and your local NHS team.
You may get a personal health budget if you:
- look after a child that gets a continuing care package from the NHS
- are over 18 and get NHS continuing healthcare
Read more about personal health budgets and eligibility.
Frequently asked questions
- Anything that is not identified within the child or young person’s EHCP as a provision that will contribute towards achieving the outcomes outlined in the EHCP.
- School fees
- Anything related to the NHS or healthcare
- Household bills or utility costs
- Housing costs
You also cannot usually spend the money on services provided to the council on contract, as we already get the best possible value for these. This includes:
- Speech and language therapy
- Occupational therapy
- Physiotherapy
Under 9.107 of the SEN Code of Practice you will be given written reasons as to why your personal budget request was declined. Following this you have the right to ask for a formal review of the decision. This will be carried out by the Head of Service, and you will receive written confirmation of the decision. A personal budget request (Section J of an EHCP) cannot be appealed through first tier tribunal.
You will receive written confirmation of the personal budget amount agreed in writing from your education, health and care coordinator (EHCCo).
Should you disagree with the amount proposed for the personal budget you will need to write to your EHCCo to request a formal review of this.
Discuss any changes of need with your education, health and care coordinator (EHCCo) and amend the EHCP if required.