A personal budget is an amount of money identified by the local authority to deliver provision set out in an EHC plan.  It is Brighter Futures for Children's commitment to ensure that parents or the young person is involved in securing that provision.

The child’s parent or the young person has the right to request that the LA identifies a personal budget, when the local authority has completed an EHC needs assessment and confirmed that it will prepare an EHC plan.  The child’s parents or the young person may also request a personal budget during a statutory review of an existing EHC plan.

Personal Budgets should reflect the holistic nature of an EHC plan and can include funding for special education, health and social care provision.  They should be focussed to secure the provision agreed in the EHC plan and should be designed to secure the outcomes specified in the EHC Plan.

There are four ways in which we anticipate provision can be secured:

1. Direct Payments
2. An Arrangement – e.g. LA or school etc. holds the funds and commissions the support
3. Third Party arrangements
4. A combination of the above

More information will be available about personal budgets on the Reading Services Guide as part of the local offer and will include a policy on personal budgets setting out a description of the services across education, health and social care that currently lend themselves to the use of personal budgets, how that funding will be made available and clear simple statements of eligibility criteria and the decision making processes.

For more information please contact the SEND Team sen@brighterfuturesforchildren.org

Next Review June 2024