SEND Personal Budgets

A personal budget is intended to give young people and their parents or carers greater choice and control over the care and support services they receive.

No. Personal budgets are not mandatory - the choice to request one is entirely up to you.

All parents, carers and young people can request a personal budget when their:

• EHC plan is being prepared
• EHC plan is being reviewed
• Statement of SEN is being transferred to an EHC plan

Decisions on eligibility and the amount of a personal budget will be made by the City of London’s Targeted Education Resources Panel (TERP).

Please note
You must have an EHC plan to qualify for a personal budget for education. However, a child or young person may be eligible for a personal budget for health and social care support without having an EHC plan if they have:

• Received a social care or Early Help assessment determining the need for support such as short break provision
• An approved health plan to meet complex health needs

• Education 
  You can use a personal budget to pay for support in a mainstream setting where the setting would have to make exceptional, one-off arrangements to meet the child or young person’s needs. This is likely to focus on supporting those with the most complex learning support needs.
  
  Personal budgets cannot be used to:

• Fund a nursery, school or college place
• Purchase resources or services that a setting already provides
• Home to school transport - if you meet that criteria
• Health 
  You can use a personal budget to fund provision needed to manage the complex health needs of:
• 0-18 year olds eligible for continuing care support
• 18 years and over eligible for continuing health care support

For details see the City and Hackney CCG Personal Health Budgets for Children. For more on personal budgets, please read Understanding Personal Health Budgets. 

• Social Care
  You can use a personal budget if a child or young person is assessed by the City of London’s Children and Family team as needing additional and individual support at home or in the wider community. This is usually done through short breaks provision.

You can choose to manage your personal budget in a number of ways:

• Organisational arrangement
  The City of London and/or City and Hackney CCG arrange the provision on your behalf. We will help you to identify the different ways to spend the funds to best meet the outcomes in the EHC plan. No money changes hands.

• Third party arrangement
  A third party organisation, trust or nominated person holds the money and helps you to decide the best way to spend it. They purchase the chosen services.
• Direct payment 
  Your personal budget is paid directly into an agreed bank account. You will be responsible for buying and managing the services to meet the outcomes identified in the EHC plan.
• A combination of the above

Examples of how a personal budget could be used

• The Education and Early Years Service: 020 7332 1002; fyi@cityoflondon.gov.uk 
• Children and Families Team: 020 7332 3621 children.duty@cityoflondon.gov.uk
• Shortbreaks: short.breaks@cityoflondon.gov.uk

The Personal Health Budget Team at NEL Commissioning Support Unit: 020 3688 1000; nelcsu.chc@nhs.net