Personal Budgets and Direct Payments

What are they? 

The Children and Families Act 2014 makes it very clear that 'the Local Authority must secure the specified Special Educational Provision for the child or young person' Section 42 (2). 

This will usually be secured by providing the provision set out in Section F of the EHCP in a school or college with additional therapies commissioned by the school or directly by the LA.

However, a parent may request that provision is made via a direct payment. A direct payment is money that the LA pay to a parent or other nominated person, in order for them to make the special educational provision set out in an EHCP. To make a direct payment, the LA must first establish a personal budget. This is the amount of money that would be needed to cover the cost of the special educational provision being requested via a direct payment.

You do not have to request a personal budget, but you can request that your LA identifies a personal budget for some or all of the provision in your child's EHCP. This must be requested when the LA issues a draft EHCP following an EHC Needs Assessment or when it is reviewing an EHCP. If you request a personal budget at one of these times, the LA must consider it. The LA does not have to consider a personal budget request at any other time.

If you request a personal budget when the EHCP is in draft, the LA should provide one unless there is a legitimate reason not to do so, e.g. it may not be possible because the provision is being provided by a service commissioned for your child to access jointly with other children.

Personal budgets can be delivered in the following ways:

• Direct Payments, where the parent or nominated person is provided with a sum of money, and they must use this to organise and manage the special educational provision – and evidence where and how this is spent.

  
  

• An arrangement – The LA, the school or College will manage the funding and commission the special educational provision.  

  
  

• Third-Party Arrangement -  Direct Payment (see above) is made to an organisation or an individual who will organise the provision.

  
  

• A combination of any of the above.

If you request a personal budget from your LA, you can also request that some or all of it is provision by a direct payment. This means that the LA will pay some of all of the money to you and you will be responsible for commissioning the provision outlined in Section F of the EHCP. The details of what the direct payment must be used for will be set out in Section J of the plan.

If you request a personal budget, the LA may refuse to agree to it if they do not believe that you will be capable of managing the money or think it may be used inappropriately. It can also refuse if making the direct payment would negatively impact on services the LA provides or would not be an efficient use of LA funds.

If a child is on a school roll and the provision the direct payment is requested for could be provided by the school, the head teacher must agree to the provision being delivered by direct payment rather than by the school.

If you request a personal budget or direct payment and your LA refuses, you can ask them to formally review this decision but it is not something that Tribunal can consider.

This LGSO report on personal budgets is useful reading.

For more information about how Empowering Families can help you email admin@empoweringSENDfamilies.co.uk

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