SEND Personal Budgets
Policy statement
1) Purpose
The purpose of this policy statement is to explain what personal SEN budgets are, how they
might be used, and how they are only one part of a much wider system of learning
opportunities, support and activities available to children and young people who need
additional support to enable them to make good educational progress. A personal budget is
an amount of money identified by the Local Authority (LA) to deliver provision to achieve an
outcome set out in an Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan where the parent or young
person is involved in securing that provision.
Young people and parents of children who have EHC Plans have the option to request a
Personal Budget which may contain elements of education, social care and health funding.
LAs must make fair and equitable funding allocations to meet the needs of its SEND pupils
and young people within the constraints of the government funding available and set out a
local policy for Personal Budgets that includes:

a description of the services across education, health and social care that lend themselves
to the use of personal budgets;

the mechanisms of control for funding available to parents/young people which include:
o Direct Payments – where individuals receive cash to contract, purchase and
manage services;
o Third Party Arrangements – where funds are paid to an individual or another
organisation on behalf of the parent/young person;
o Organised Arrangements – where the LA retains the funds and commissions the
support as directed by the parent /young [person;

clear and simple statements of eligibility criteria and the decision-making processes that
underpin them.
It is important to recognise that no changes to existing arrangements are being imposed on
young people or their parents/carers as the government’s SEND reforms are expected to
become fully embedded over the next few years. Current placements and funding
arrangements will stay in place whilst these reforms will ensure that information relating to
services and their costs is more effectively shared and that over time young people/parents
will have a greater influence over how some areas of funding is utilised and controlled.
This policy statement is provided to raise awareness of the current arrangements for SEND
funding and to explain where young people and their parents/carers can exercise their rights
to influence or change current arrangements at any time after 1st September 2014.
2) Overview of Personal Budgets
Set out below is an overview of the funding arrangements that are in place relating to meeting
the needs of children and young people for whom EHC Plans will be required. In accordance
with the Children and Families Act 2014 the LA must identify those areas of spending which
are deemed “personal budgets” and the parents of children or young people themselves must
be offered the opportunity to influence how this funding is used or, in some cases, actually
control the receipt and spending of cash.
There are many children and young people who have a special need or disability but who do
not need additional support as their needs are met by existing services. Special schools or
other specialist settings will, in the majority of cases, be designed, organised and resourced
to meet fully all the educational needs of their pupils. All education providers, including Early
Years settings, schools, academies, colleges and other learning providers, are focused on
supporting all the children or young people to achieve quality learning outcomes. The teacher
or practitioner will be focused on helping every child or young person to succeed and details
of additional support provided must be included in local offer statements.
Some children and young people will need additional support to achieve their learning
outcomes. This is targeted support and providers (Early Years settings, schools, academies
and colleges) receive funding from the LA for this. The targeted support might include, for
example, focused literary support or a behaviour management programme.
A small number of children and young people will require additional and individual support
over and above the targeted support so that they can participate in learning activities, enjoy
the learning experience and achieve well. At the moment most of these children and young
people would have a statement of special educational needs and in the future they will have
an EHC Plan which may be supported by a personal budget. Examples where families may
need to access additional support for their child are:

additional support from Education to ensure that a child’s learning needs are met, ie,
to enable them to participate, enjoy and achieve their learning outcomes. This could
include home to school transport, specialist equipment or types of therapy, and would
make up a personal SEN budget with a focus on learning outcomes;

additional support from the Health Service where a child has a complex long-term
and/or life-limiting condition. This would make up a personal health budget focused
on health outcomes;

additional support from Social Care where a child needs additional support at home or
where a family need a short break from caring. This would make up a personal care
budget focused on outcomes around family and home life, being safe when out and
about in the local community and being able to take part in life outside of school.
All the above are examples of items that are over and above those that a provider (e.g.
school) is expected to provide as part of their local offer and together would form the child or
young person’s overall personal budget. The key area of change arising from the SEND
reforms is that instead of a family being provided with these services by the LA, school or
Health Service, a single budget is identified and work takes place to plan how this can best be
used to meet the child or family’s needs and to improve learning outcomes.
3) Overview of Funding Streams relating to children and young people with SEND
In Swindon we want co-production to be at the centre of the new approach to supporting
children, young people and families. Personal budgets should model co-production; not just in
terms of the planning around an individual but also in the development and taking forward of
this approach.
The table below summarises how the various public sector funding streams are used to meet
the needs of children and young people with SEND and for whom EHC Plans will be required.
Where appropriate a commentary is provided on the scope for personal budgets to be
established.
Provider
Core and SEND Funding
Early Years
nursery
setting
Core funding
 LA provides funding to providers via an Early
Years Single Funding Formula for up to 15
hrs per week statutory entitlements.
 Funding is based on participation/attendance
and paid as an hourly rate per child.
SEND funding
 LA provides a Borough-wide portage service
to prepare and support children with SEND
for nursery provision.

Providers can submit requests for “top-up
funding” where a child has additional needs –
these requests are considered by the LA’s
SEN Resource Allocation Panel (SENRAP).
Scope for personal
budgets

N/A

N/A

Not currently applicable
but parents will be
consulted on how
services are shaped
through feedback on
the local offer.
Parents can make a
request to the Early
Years setting for a
personal budget
where additional
support cannot be
provided by the
setting/school, e
subject to agreement
by the Headteacher or
Manager.

Mainstream
School
Core funding
 LA provides funding to schools and
academies via a local formula which provides
an age-based basic per pupil entitlement for
every pupil plus allocations for deprivation,
low prior attainment, etc.
SEND funding
 School can submit requests for “top-up
funding” where a child has additional needs –
these requests are considered by the LA’s
SEN Resource Allocation Panel (SENRAP).
Special
Resource
Provision at
mainstream
school and
Special
Schools
(including
sixth forms)
Core / SEND funding
 LA provides a fixed amount of funding per
planned SEND place,
 LA provides “top-up” funding via an SEND
banding system which recognises the type
and level of additional need of each pupil.
 LA also provides “supplements” for Speech
and Language, and Pediatric therapy for
eligible pupils.
Independent
Special
School and
Independent
post-16
Specialist
Providers
Core / SEND funding
LA commissions places and provides
bespoke funding which recognises the pupil’s
needs.

N/A

Parents can make a
request to the school
for a personal budget
where additional
support cannot be
provided by the school,
e.g., to access work
experience, subject to
agreement by the
Headteacher.

N/A

N/A

Parents should be fully
consulted on how this
funding is used by
schools and can make
a request for a
personal budget in
circumstances where
this would not
detrimentally affect
school-wide services
provided to other
pupils, e.g., to access
work experience,
subject to agreement
by the Headteacher
N / A, although parent /
young person is fully
involved in decisions
relating to all external
placements.
Further
Education
College and
other post-16
Training
Providers
Core funding
 The Education Funding Agency
provides funding for students based on a
national formula which recognises that some
learners will have additional needs
SEND funding
 LA provides “top-up” funding via an SEND
banding system which recognises the type
and level of additional need of each student.
 LA also provides “supplements” for eligible
students who are learning in potentially
dangerous workshop environments.
Boroughwide
Services
Home to School transport
 LA arranges appropriate methods of transport
for SEND pupils which may include the
provision of Passenger Transport Assistants
(escorts).

N/A

N/A

Students/ parents can
make a request to a
college or FE for a
personal budget
where, for example, a
work experience
placement is agreed as
being needed, subject
to the agreement of the
Principal.

Parents can request a
personal budget
where this would not
detrimentally affect
other pupils or LA
budgets.
SEND commissioned outreach and support
services
 LA commissions a range of services provided 
by schools and academies to support SEND
pupils across the Borough as follows:
o Nylands – Campus Outreach Team
o Nylands – outreach service for emotionally
vulnerable pupils
o Uplands – Visually Impaired Education
Support Service
o Uplands – Assistive Technology
o Even Swindon – Speech and Language
o Ruskin Junior – Autistic Spectrum Disorder

o Ruskin Junior – Autistic Spectrum Condition
Support Service
o Ridgeway – Education Audiologist
o Redoaks – Hearing Impaired Support Service
o Commonweal – Physical Impairment Advisory
Service
o Millbrook – Specific Learning Difficulties
Support Service
These services are
continuously reviewed
to ensure they operate
effectively and
represent best value for
money. This will be
done through the
development of the
local offer.
Parents can request a
personal budget
where this would not
detrimentally affect
other pupils or LA
budgets.
Short Breaks for Disabled Children
 Short breaks for young people and their
carers can be arranged via a statutory
assessment; the majority of those receiving a
short break receive them via self assessment through the Aiming High Short
Break Service.
Other Social Care Support
 Most children with a special need do not
receive support from Social Care but,
depending on the disability, may receive
additional help with bathing, personal care or
access to social or family activities.
Health Services
 Most children with a special need do not
receive any more support from Health than
any other child, as they access health, dental
and emergency care as and when needed.


Parents can already
request a personal
budget.

Parents can already
request a direct
service (arranged and
provided by the LA)
or a direct payment.

Children with a
continuing care
assessment can
request a personal
budget from October
2014
A small number of children and young people
may, due to complex long-term and/or lifelimiting conditions (e.g., severe breathing
difficulties or epilepsy) have a continuing care
assessment. Any services provided in these
circumstances must be included in the EHC
Plan.
This table illustrates that currently there is limited scope for personal budgets to be
established but this will be continuously reviewed. The LA will explore any aspect of SEND
service provision where children, young people or their parents feel that better outcomes
and / or better value for money would arise from the reshaping of services and introduction of
personal budgets.
The following section sets out information on how parents/carers will know if a child or young
person can have a personal SEN budget, how much it will be and the different ways it could
be managed.
4) The Needs Assessment Process
Following the single needs assessment process, a decision will be made about how to meet
the identified learning, health and/or care outcomes, together with the child or young person
and their family. The decision can include information on the personal budget to be made
available from Education, Health or Social Care (or, in some cases, from a single, pooled
“support” budget).
If information about a personal budget is requested, a resource allocation will be completed
with the family or young person, resulting in an indicative budget being allocated to help draw
up the EHC Plan. The indicative budget will be known in the early stages on the EHC Plan.
Children, young people and families will be supported to create the plan. It is only once the
planning process has been completed that it will be clear what the final personal budget
should be in order to fund the additional support required to achieve the identified outcomes.
A personal budget statement can form part of the EHC Plan. Some of the overall personal
budget may be “cash releasable” and made available as a direct payment – this will need to
be clarified by the LA in a costed plan.
Linking SEN budgets with other sources of support, access and opportunity at school, college
or in training
A personal budget statement will include information about the funding for the school place,
which includes targeted support managed by the school or other learning provider to offer
additional learning support to individuals, classes or groups of pupils and students.
School funding cannot form part of any cash releasable direct payment unless this has been
agreed by the head teacher or principal of the school or college. Personal SEN Budgets to
support learning outcomes for goods or services which are used or provided for in an Early
Years setting, school or post-16 Institution are not automatically available for direct payments.
In effect, should a child or young person require additional resources to access learning on
site, in most cases this will be provided directly to the educational setting as per the agreed
outcomes on the EHC Plan.
It is important to consider how the funding can be used alongside all the other sources of
support, learning activities or opportunities to help the child or young person achieve their
learning outcomes. The learning outcomes which the child or young person hopes to achieve
will be set out in their EHC Plan and setting / school / college education plans.
A personal SEN budget could:

add to existing learning support – providing a more consistent offer of support to the
child or young person;

fund time to bring all key parties together to bridge the gap between home and school
/ other learning provision and to build a team of dedicated support people (including
family);

fund some specialist input;

fund a work experience or work-based learning opportunity;

add to the technology available to promote a pupil or student’s individual style of
learning.
5) Managing a Personal Budget
In determining the level of overall funding for SEND provision, including personal budgets, it is
important to recognise that the LA and Health Service must operate within a finite and limited
level of resources. This means that spending decisions relating to individual young people
must take into consideration the impact on other learners. For example where a school or
college is employing or commissioning specialist support to assist a group of pupils it may not
be economic or effective use of public funds if alternative arrangements were made for a
specific pupil at the same setting.
As summarised in the table above, typical examples of items for which personal budgets
could be established are as follows:

A family could use monies to pay for home to school transport rather than use the LA’s
transport services – the LA may reimburse mileage at a rate per mile and the family
could potentially employ their own passenger transport assistants.

A family could use monies to pay for a personal assistant to help with social care
support in the home, to access social or family activities or to meet health needs.

A family could use monies to pay for short respite beaks for parents/carers.

A family could use monies to employ specialist therapy services to assist in accessing
education where this is agreed by the school.

A family could use monies to access work experience for a school/ college student
where this is agreed with the school or college.
It is also important to recognise the different levels of responsibility and accountability that
would transfer to parents depending on what type of arrangements is agreed for managing
the personal budget. Section 1 summarised the three options available, which are as follows:

Direct Payment – where a family is given the money directly and uses the money to
purchase some or all of the support that is agreed in the plan. The LA will make
payments into a separate bank account which will need to be opened and controlled by
the family, who must retain receipts and maintain records which will be subject to
periodic audit by the LA. Any unspent monies will need to be returned to the LA at
each year end and families must sign a written arrangement at the outset which
clarifies how the direct payment is to be spent and which agency/ providers can be
used. This type of arrangement can mean more flexibility about how services are
provided but entails more responsibility for the family.

Third Party Managed Arrangement – where a third party, such as a charity or school,
is given the money and helps the family spend it. Under this type of arrangement the
organisation is responsible for controlling the financial arrangements.

Organised Arrangement – where money remains with the LA, Provider or Health
Service but the family is told how much is available and identifies how the money is
spent.
6) Definitions and terminology

Personal Budget – an amount of funding allocated to meet the additional and
individual support needs of the child or young person. The personal budget is
allocated in recognition that the child or young person’s support needs cannot be met
in full by mainstream/universal or targeted services without an additional individual
investment being made. Personal budgets may be provided from one, two or all three
different funding streams: education, health and social care or from a single pooled
fund. Whichever is the case, the personal budget will be holistic and used to support
the achievement of the identified outcomes in the Education, Health and Care Plan.

Personalised funding, activities, support and/or resources – this may include a
personal budget, however there are other resources, activities and funding which can
be used in a personalised way within a school or other education or training setting to
support a child or young person to achieve their learning outcomes. These are
personalised to the needs of the child and young person and their views have been
central to all decisions.

RAS or Resource Allocation System - a simple set of rules which explain what
budget is available, which children or young people will be supported by this budget
and what outcomes are set against the use of the budget. An RAS may include a
simple set of questions which will be completed by the family and linked professional;
this set of questions will result in an indicative allocation of a personal budget.

EHC Plan or Education Health and Care Plan - the single plan which will set out
how the health, care and learning outcomes of the child or young person with SEND
are going to be supported. This may include the use of a personal budget (or
budgets) if it is agreed that the child or young person has support needs which cannot
be met through mainstream services or targeted support.

Indicative personal SEN budget – an allocation of funding made prior to the drawing
up of the EHC Plan. It is called an indicative allocation or personal budget as it is an
estimate of the funding available set against the level of support the child or young
person needs, it will only become a full personal SEN budget when the EHC Plan is
finalised and agreed.

Direct payments – as with a personal budget for social care or a personal health
budget, it will be possible for the family/parents to ask to have some of the personal
SEN budget as a direct payment. In so doing, the parents will be responsible for the
management and use of the money in the same way as they are if they choose to
manage a personal social care budget or a personal health budget.

Mainstream services – with the focus being on education settings here we mean:
Early Years services, schools, academies, colleges and other education/training
providers which co-ordinate and/or deliver learning opportunities/activities with
identified learning outcomes. This can include work experience, work-based learning
and participating in learning activities in a variety of environments and settings.

Targeted support – services and support targeted at a group of children and young
people due to a particular common learning support need. At a school level, targeted
support will mean support focused on one or more children and young people in a
class or in a group, where there is a shared offer of support. This may include
funding of support staff. This support will be funded through the Early Years settings’,
schools’ and colleges’ budgets.

Outcome – something that will happen as a result of an activity, process, input or
intervention.
31 July 2014
Personal SEN Budgets to support learning outcomes for goods or services which are used or
provided for in an Early Years setting, school or post-16 Institution are not automatically
available for direct payments; without the written consent of the principal or head teacher of
the institution. In effect, should a child or young person require additional resources to
access learning on site, in most cases this will be provided directly to the educational setting
as per the agreed outcomes on the EHC Plan. The educational setting will, during the annual
review process, be held to account as to how this funding was spent and the impact it has
had.