Personal budgets for Education have only been an option since April 2014. A personal budget for Education can only be agreed to meet provision detailed in section F of an EHCP. Elements of the ‘top up’ funding that schools/education settings receive for a child or young person with SEND may be able to be made available as a personal budget to allow parents to secure alternative support services. 

This cannot usually be used to pay for services where the local authority has a block contract in place with a service provider and cannot be used to pay for a school place.

In exceptional circumstances, there may be scope to agree release of further SEND funding from a school/education setting budget, but only with the agreement of the Head Teacher/Principal who would consider the impact on services for the majority of SEND pupils/students.

Requests for a personal budget can be made:

• by completing the above Personal Budget Request Form: please submit to your SEND Officer
• at the draft EHCP stage, where the result of an EHC needs assessment is that an EHCP is required and will be issued
• at an annual review of an EHCP

For further information, please refer to: Personal Budget form, which includes guidance.

All cases will be considered individually and it is important to note that what may be an appropriate use of funding to support a child/young person to meet their agreed outcomes, as outlined in the Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), may not be suitable for another child/young person with a different set of needs.

Young people/parents who wish to consider having a personal budget to arrange SEND support services should contact Torbay SEND team, to discuss this further.

All families of children or young people are told about the option for a Personal Budget when an EHC needs assessment is being caried out. If they express an interest in having a personal budget their allocated SEND Officer in the Torbay SEND team will explore the option of accessing parts of the element 3 ‘top up’ funding as a personal budget and to discuss with their child’s schools any possibilities for the school or college releasing funding to also be used as a personal budget’, to meet the needs of the child/young person.

You are not able to use a personal education budget to pay for:

• anything that is not identified in the EHCP
• health and social care provision that will not achieve the educational outcomes in the EHCP
• any provision that an education setting would normally provide a student
• a school or post 16 placement.