Education personal budgets
You must have an EHC plan to get a Personal Budget for special educational provision. A personal budget is optional, you don’t have to have one.
A personal budget for education can be used for things that will support the child or young person to achieve their educational outcomes as set out in their EHC Plan. Some examples of this might be:
- Technology support for learning such as specialist IT equipment
- Support for communication with others
- Support to join an educational activity or club
- Additional specialist support to achieve an outcome
- Equipment to support access to educational outcomes
Personal budgets may therefore offer a different and flexible way of meeting the needs and delivering the provision identified in a child’s or young person’s EHC plan, but do not provide additional funding or support above and beyond this.
Personal budgets cannot be used to:
- fund a school or college place
- supplement a school’s budget.
- For a full list of exceptions please refer to ‘The Special Educational Needs (Personal Budgets) Regulations 2014‘
Personal Health Budgets
A personal health budget may be used for continuing health care for children and young people in line with the government’s ongoing personalisation agenda.
There are five essential components of a Personal Health Budget. The patient with the Personal Health Budget (or their Representative) must:
- Be able to choose the health outcomes they want to achieve to improve their health and wellbeing.
- Know how much money they have for their health care and support.
- Be enabled to create their own plan, with support if they want it from the CCG.
- Be able to choose how their budget is held and managed.
- Be able to spend the money in ways and at times that make sense to them, as agreed in their plan.
A personal health budget cannot be used for:
- Purchasing alcohol, tobacco, funding gambling or debt repayment, anything that is illegal
- Emergency or urgent care including inpatient care.
- Purchasing services which are run by the local authority.
- Purchasing services provided by the NHS such as primary medical care including dental and GP services.
- Purchasing services from a close family member who lives at the same address as you are other than in exceptional circumstances.
These are some of the main points but these lists are not exhaustive.
Principles of a Personal Health Budget
Our underpinning principles for providing Personal Health Budgets are:
- Patients and their carers will be central to all processes
- Services will be personalised regardless of who pays and whether they are delivered by the statutory or private sector
- The delivery of Personal Health Budgets will be managed within the agreed budgetary provision affordable to the Local Authority as part of its annual financial plan.
The Local Authority acknowledges that people have the right to ask for a Personal Health Budget, but the capacity and resources to meet all requests is likely to result in the need to prioritise individuals in the local process.
Following a clinical assessment, an indicative budget will be offered based on a fair and transparent allocation process, with which the patient will begin to develop an individual plan to meet their holistic needs for their health and well-being. This plan must be legal, effective, affordable, and meet a range of agreed outcomes. This will then help calculate an agreed final Personal Health Budget. The freedom to prioritise what is important in their lives is a fundamental shift in roles and responsibilities for both the patient and the health professional.
Patients, supported by their parents/guardian where appropriate, in close liaison with health professionals, will identify their desired outcomes and plan their support within the proposed allocation of money.
Social Care personal budgets
Forpersonal social care budgets for children and young people under 18, local authorities are under a duty to offer direct payments for services which the local authority may provide to children with disabilities, or their families, under section 17 of the Children Act 1989 (Defined as Child In Need).
For people aged 18 and over, the Care Act 2014 mandates that a Personal Budget as part of the care and support plan for people over 18 with eligible care and support needs, or where the local authority decides to meet needs.
A personal social care budget can be used for
- Help with personal care
- Day Care services both traditional and non-traditional
- Help with daily living activities
- Support to promote independence
- Supporting employment needs
- Short stay/respite care both traditional and non-traditional
- Personal Assistant costs
- To provide supported accommodation, where this is not funded by Housing Benefits or Supporting People
- Better access to transport
- Equipment to help you to be as independent as possible or assist you in employment
- Other services identified in your support plan
You cannot use your Direct Payment to pay for:
- Any expenditure/activity that isn’t in your support plan
- Employing someone who lives in the same household (unless there are exceptional reasons which have been agreed with the Local Authority)
- Residential careor Nursing Care Services
- Any activity that is illegal
- Services that can be obtained free of charge (e.g., dentistry, eye care, health care)
- Any activity that puts you or others at risk of serious harm
- Expenditure on drugs, tobacco, or alcohol
- Clothing and jewellery
- Food/heating/lighting/general household or living expenses
- Rent or housing costs
- Any form of building works
- Aids and adaptations which should be funded from other sources
- General Bank charges
- Mobile phone charges
- Payments to purchase and/or maintain ordinary household items, unless this is explicitly specified in your Support Plan, and meets an agreed need, (e.g., an individual budget would not normally be used to help someone pay to repair their central heating boiler or shower, or to buy carpets.)
- Gifts
- Cash Withdrawals
- Gambling
- Purchasing Food and Drink
- Transport Costs that would be part of a child or young person’s daily routine e.g. to school.
