Personal budgets and the SEND Reforms Nic Crosby Director Children and young people

What is a personal budget? 9.95 A Personal Budget is an amount of money identified by the local authority to deliver provision set out in an EHC plan where the parent or young person is involved in securing that provision Further……… A personal budget is a sum of funding available for young people where it is clear that they need additional provision, compared to that available to most young people through local services. It is not the sum total of all the resources that are available to support a young person and the EHC Plan does not need to list all the costs associated with supporting a young person. Rather, it should provide a detailed explanation of how a personal budget will be used to deliver agreed provision, the needs and outcomes it will meet, and explain how the money will be used, spent and managed including arrangements in relation to any direct payments1

The Local Offer and Personal Budgets 9.96 Local authorities must provide information on Personal Budgets as part of the Local Offer. This should include a policy on Personal Budgets that sets 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 and simple statements of eligibility criteria and the decision-making processes

Clarification

Managing a Personal Budget Managed by the local authority ‘an organised service’ Managed by a provider / VCS on the family’s behalf ‘an individual service fund’ Managed by the family as a ‘direct payment’ A mix of these three options

“…if you are open and honest us about what funding is available then maybe we can start to work together, we might not like what you are telling us but at least you are being honest and we may start to trust what you are telling us…..but if you continue to withhold information, make decisions behind closed doors and not give us the information we need to make good decisions about support for our sons and daughters how can we ever trust what you say” Lara Roberts, parent of a young man who has had an individual budget for over two years

Indicative funding The child’s parent or the young person should be given an indication of the level of funding that is likely to be required to make the provision specified, or proposed to be specified in the EHC plan. An indicative figure can be identified through a resource allocation or banded funding system. As part of a person-centred approach to the development of the EHC plan, the local authority should agree the provision to be made in the plan and help the parent or young person to decide whether they want to take up a Personal Budget. Local authorities should be clear that any figure discussed at this stage is indicative and is a tool to support the planning process including the development of the draft EHC plan. The final allocation of funding budget must be sufficient to secure the agreed provision specified in the EHC plan and must be set out as part of that provision Code of Practice for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities 2014

Aligning and integrating funding Local authority commissioners and their partners should seek to align funding streams for inclusion in Personal Budgets and are encouraged to establish arrangements that will allow the development of a single integrated fund from which a single Personal Budget, covering all three areas of additional and individual support, can be made available. EHC plans can then set out how this budget is to be used including the provision to be secured, the outcomes it will deliver and how health, education and social care needs will be met.

The challenge….. To develop clarity and clear information for parents, young people and practitioners about what is available and as important, what isn’t? To develop a shared understanding of how personal budgets are only one part of the Local Offer To champion flexibility and creativity and not to set down overly burdensome rules and bureaurcracy To develop a shared understanding about the need to work in person centred ways and to challenge the historical culture To lead with a vision of supporting people to take charge and control over the support and treatments they need with support from experts and specialists

Transparency Participation

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