Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Personal Budgets Policy

This policy includes:

• A description of services across education, health, and social care that currently lend themselves to personal budgets.
• How that funding will be made available – partners must set out in their joint commissioning arrangements their arrangements for agreeing personal budgets.
• Mechanisms of control for making funding available to young people and parents (this includes direct payments, notional budgets, third party arrangements or any combination of these).
• Clear and simple statements of eligibility criteria and the decision-making processes that underpin them.

Our shared principles for all children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and their families are:

• Children and young people will be listened to.
• They will have people important to them involved in making things better for them.
• Their needs will be clearly understood and described.
• There will be a plan in place regarding how these will be met.
• We will only be involved in the lives of children and young people for as long as we need to.
• They will understand what is written about them.
• We will follow the rules in what we do.
• Our workers will have the support and guidance to help them do a good job. 

This policy is aligned to these principles, that children, young people and their families are listened to and empowered to make choices, accessing provision with a personal budget where this meets needs.

There are different types of personal budget for different needs, as follows:

• Personal education budget: A personal education budget is an amount of money per year that may be allocated to your family from the Authority to cover the cost of making special educational provision specified in an EHCP (Education Health and Care Plan).

• Social care personal budget: A social care personal budget allows you to receive any social care and support you may need. The Authority decides if you are eligible for a social care personal budget to help with any social care and support you may need. This is determined through a needs assessment.

• Personal health budget: A personal health budget is an amount of money given to you to support your health needs, which is planned and agreed between the recipient or their representative and the local ICB (Integrated Care Board). The personal health budget is not new money, but it may mean spending money differently so that you can get the care you need.

• Integrated personal budget: An integrated budget for both your healthcare, and support needs and social care needs.

• Carer’s personal budget: This is not to be confused with a carer’s allowance. A carer’s personal budget (which may also be provided as a carer direct payment) is a sum of money paid by the Authority’s Adult Social Care department following a Carer’s Assessment. The money is to help carers pay for things which will help them in their caring role.

A direct payment is one way of managing these budgets. It's when you get the money directly to buy the agreed care and support you need rather than the council arranging it for you. There are separate regulations for direct payments for special educational provision, health care and social care provision. These are:

• The Special Educational Needs (Personal Budget) Regulations 2014
• The National Health Service (Direct Payments) Regulations 2013
• The Community Care, services for Carers and Children’s Services (Direct Payments) Regulations 2009 and The Care and Support (Direct Payments) Regulations 2014.

Sometimes provision is funded through a personal budget which is jointly funded by a combination of health, social care and/or education. 

Decisions for children and young people who meet the criteria for personal budgets will be taken by North Tyneside Complex Case Panel, a multi-agency panel tasked with considering support arrangements for children and young people with complex social care and health needs.

Details of any kind of personal budget that will be used to secure provision within an EHCP should be recorded in section J of the EHCP. This section should set out the arrangements in relation to direct payments as required by education, health and social care regulations and the special educational needs and outcomes which are to be met by any direct payment must be specified.

Co-production is at the centre of the approach to supporting children and young people with additional needs/SEND and their families. Personal education budget processes should model co-production. Developing the offer of personal education budgets will mean genuinely working with all partners, families, young people, parent carer forums and local providers.

Personal education budgets create opportunities to:

• Meet presenting needs at the earliest opportunity to offer the greatest support.
• Give greater choice and control to young people with additional needs/SEND and their families.
• Meet stated outcomes in EHCPs, where these cannot be met by existing services.
• Use resources in the most effective way, to achieve specified outcomes.
• Ensure support interventions are integrated into the holistic support for the child.

Decision making about personal education budgets should be based on:

• Openness: Everyone understands how decisions are made, what is available, and what choices exist.
• Involvement: Everybody who needs help in understanding what personal budgets may offer should be supported to do so.
• Transparency: Provision of better record keeping will be key to avoiding future similar issues.

What is a personal health budget (PHB)?

A personal health budget is an amount of NHS money that is allocated to support your health and wellbeing needs. If you're eligible for it, you (or someone who represents you), will work with your local NHS team to plan how you spend the money and get the care you need.

A personal health budget allows you to manage your healthcare and support such as treatments, equipment and personal care, in a way that suits you. It works in a similar way to personal budgets and direct payments, which allow people to manage and pay for their social care needs.

Who can receive one?

The right to have a personal health budget applies to people who are:

• Adults receiving NHS continuing healthcare (NHS-funded long-term health and personal care provided outside hospital).
• Children receiving NHS continuing healthcare.
• People who are referred and meet the eligibility criteria of their local wheelchair service and people who are already registered with the wheelchair service when they need a new wheelchair or specialist buggy, either because of a change in clinical needs or the condition of the current chair. These people will be eligible for a personal wheelchair budget.  You can find out more about personal wheelchair budgets from NHS England.
• People with a mental health condition who are eligible for section 117 after-care as a result of being detained under certain sections of the Mental Health Act (this does not include detention under section 2 of the Act).  You can find out more about section 117 after-care from Rethink Mental Illness.

If you are not in a group that has a right to a personal health budget, but you are interested in receiving one, you can speak to North East and North Cumbria ICB.  ICBs make the arrangements for personal health budgets and are encouraged to offer them to other patient groups.

How is a personal health budget worked out?

The amount you receive is based on an assessment of your health, your wellbeing needs and the cost of meeting those needs. If you are able to have a personal health budget, then together with your NHS team you'll develop a personalised care and support plan. The plan sets out:

• Your personal health and wellbeing needs;
• The health outcomes you want to achieve;
• The amount of money in your budget; and,
• How you'll spend it.

A care co-ordinator, who will be your first point of contact in case you have any concerns, should be identified in the planning process.

Visit Peoplehub, where people with a personal health budget and their families and carers share their experiences.

A personal health budget will not be right for everyone, and it will not always be the best way to receive support.

You are not allowed to spend the money on gambling, debt repayment, alcohol, tobacco, or anything illegal. If you spend your budget in ways that have not been agreed, you may be asked to repay the money to the ICB.

Any emergency care, medicines or GP care you receive are separate and will not be paid for from your budget.

Monitoring and review

Once you have a personal health budget, your NHS team will periodically review your care plan with you. You can also ask your NHS team to review and update your plan because your health needs have changed, or you feel the current plan is not working for you.

You can give up your personal health budget at any point if you wish to; you will still be able to receive care and support in another way.

Can I have a personal health budget as well as a personal social care budget?

If you already receive a personal budget and direct payments for care and support from social care services, and your NHS team agrees, you can also have a personal health budget. You can ask for both to be paid into the same bank account.

What happens if I disagree with the amount I'm offered?

The discussion around your plan should include what to do if you disagree with something, or if something goes wrong. If you're not sure what to do, speak to your NHS team. If you're still not happy, find out more about feedback and complaints on the NHS England website.

What if my request for a personal health budget is turned down?

If your request for a personal health budget is turned down, you should be told why. If you wish to appeal, North East and North Cumbria ICB should explain what to do. If you're still not happy, find out more about feedback and complaints on the NHS England website.

Managing your personal health budget

A personal health budget can be managed in three ways, or a combination of these, as follows:

• Notional budget: There is no money given to you directly. You find out how much money is available for your assessed needs and together with your NHS team you will decide how to spend that money. They will then arrange the agreed care and support for you.
• Third party budget: An organisation legally independent of both you and the NHS (for example, an independent user trust or a voluntary organisation) holds the money for you, and also pays for and arranges the care and support agreed in your care plan.
• Direct payment for healthcare: You get the money to buy the care and support you and your NHS team agree you need. You must show what you have spent it on, but you, or your representative, buy and manage services yourself.

Managing your personal wheelchair budget

There are four different options for managing a personal wheelchair budget, as follows:

• Notional personal wheelchair budget: There is no money given to you directly. The NHS purchases and provides your chair, but you can contribute to the budget with money from other sources to get a higher specification wheelchair. This was previously known as a partnership voucher.
• Third party personal wheelchair budget: You can use your personal wheelchair budget to purchase equipment outside of the NHS. You can also contribute additional money from other sources. This was previously known as an independent voucher.
• Traditional third party personal health budget: If you have a wheelchair as part of a wider package of care and support, an independent organisation could help you manage the budget you receive and pay for the chair.
• Direct payment: This is where you get the money to pay for the equipment you need. This option is not usually available at the moment for personal wheelchair budgets.

You can find out more about personal wheelchair budgets from NHS England.

What happens if I underspend, or overspend, my budget?

There are likely to be times when your healthcare needs change and this may affect your budget.

If you have underspent, your NHS team will discuss with you what happens to the money that is left. It may be kept for your future healthcare needs, or returned to the ICB and allocated to other budget holders.

If you have overspent, contact your NHS team as soon as possible. No-one with a personal health budget will be denied healthcare. If you feel you need more support than was agreed in your care plan, those arrangements can be reviewed.

You can request a review of your needs and care plan at any time. If you have spent your budget in ways that have not been agreed with your NHS team, you may be asked to repay it.

You can find out more about help with health costs.

Children and young people under 18 years of age

For children and young people under 18 years of age, the Authority has a duty to offer direct payments for services as an alternative to services delivered or commissioned by the Authority for children with disabilities, or their families, under Section 17 of the Children Act.  Locally:

• Direct payments are available to children and young people whose needs have been assessed, by a social worker or family support worker, as meeting the threshold for social care support. 
• Direct payments allow families to organise support that is personalised to the assessed needs of the child or young person, so you can choose the services that work best for your child.
• Direct payments can be used to meet your child's assessed needs.

Here are some examples of what direct payments can be used for:

• Employing someone to help you look after your child; this person is often referred to as a personal assistant.
• To enable your child to join in with activities in the community, such as youth clubs, sports clubs or play schemes.

The Authority will set out which elements of support the payments are expected to cover. Here are some examples of what direct payments cannot be used for:

• Buying permanent residential care.
• Any services provided directly by the Authority.
• Replacement of NHS services, housing, Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) benefits or Independent Living Fund payments.
• Paying for household bills.
• Anything unlawful.

What to do if you disagree with a decision about a personal social care budget

If a family feel that the assessment of need has not correctly identified all the needs of the family which require support they should discuss this with the social worker’s team manager and/or service manager and if they still feel unhappy they should use the statutory complaints process.

People over 18 years of age

The Care Act 2014 mandates, for the first time in law, a personal budget as part of the care and support plan for people over 18 with eligible care and support needs, or where the Authority decides to meet needs. It also clarifies a person's right to request a direct payment to meet some or all of their care and support needs, and allows people with or without capacity to request a direct payment.

To determine eligibility for support, the Authority will complete an assessment of your needs.  You can find out more about that assessment, including the eligibility criteria under the Care Act 2014.

If the person has eligible needs for care and support, a support plan will be produced, setting out how needs will be met and by whom. This could be by equipment, technology, community sector support, or by social care providers.

Adult social care support is usually means-tested, except for a small number of people who were previously detained in hospital for mental health treatment. The information sheet on financial assessments gives more information about this.

If the person has unmet eligible needs, and is entitled to financial support with care costs from the council, a personal budget will be agreed by Adult Social Care managers. This information sheet explains personal budgets in adult social care, and how they are calculated.

During the support planning process, a direct payment may be agreed if this is an effective and suitable way to meet needs. An introductory information sheet explains direct payments, with more available with details of how these are managed.

Adult Social Care's overall Direct Payments Policy provides full details.

Age UK provides more information about personal budgets and direct payments in social care provided under the Care Act 2014 here. 

What is a personal education budget?

Section 49 of the Children and Families Act 2014 introduced personal budgets for children and young people where Authorities maintain or prepare Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).

The SEND Code of Practice defines a personal education budget in the following terms:

'A personal budget is an amount of money identified by the local authority to deliver provision set out in an EHCP where the parent or young person is involved in securing that provision (SEN and Disability Code of Practice, June 2014, para. 9.95).

'The child's parent or the young person has a right to request a personal budget, when the local authority has completed an EHC needs assessment and confirmed that it will prepare an EHCP. They may also request a personal budget during a statutory review of an existing EHCP (SEN and Disability Code of Practice, June 2014, para. 9.98).

There are four ways, set out in the SEN and Disability Code of Practice, June 2014, para 9.101, in which a child's parent or young person can be involved in securing provision:

• Direct payments: Where the child's parents or young person receive the funding to contract, purchase and manage the services themselves.
• An organised arrangement: Where the Authority, school or college holds the funds and commissions the support specified in the plan. These are sometimes called notional arrangements and can also be used where contractual, or funding arrangements mean that cash cannot be released as a direct payment or where economies of scale are present.
• Third party arrangements: Where direct payments are paid to and managed by an individual or organisation on behalf of the child's parent or young person.
• A combination of the above.

The Authority is not allowed by law to make a direct payment to the following groups of people as set out in the schedule in the regulations:

Anyone:

• Subject to a drug rehabilitation requirement, imposed by a community order or by a suspended sentence order;
• Subject to an alcohol treatment requirement, imposed by a community order or by a suspended sentence order;
• Released on licence under Criminal Justice Act 2003 or the Crime (Sentences) Act 1997, subject to a licence condition requiring the offender to undertake offending behaviour work to address drug-related or alcohol related behaviour;
• Required to submit to treatment for their drug or alcohol dependency by virtue of a community rehabilitation order or a community punishment and rehabilitation order;
• Subject to a drug treatment and testing order;
• Subject to a youth rehabilitation order which requires the person to submit to treatment pursuant to a drug treatment requirement;
• Subject to a youth rehabilitation order which includes a drug testing requirement; or,
• Subject to a youth rehabilitation order which requires the person to submit to treatment pursuant to an intoxicating substance treatment requirement.

Who can request a personal education budget?

A child's parent or carer, or a young person, has a right to request a personal education budget, when the Authority has completed an EHC needs assessment and confirmed that it will prepare an EHCP. They may also request a personal education budget during a statutory review of an existing EHCP. (A young person in this context is someone over school leaving age with an EHCP.)

Personal budgets should reflect the holistic nature of an EHCP and can include funding for special educational, health and social care provision. They should be focused to secure the provision agreed in the EHCP and should be designed to secure the outcomes specified in the EHCP.

It is important to understand that not everything identified in an EHCP is available as a personal budget. Options for personal budgets are determined by the assessed needs of the child or young person and influenced by what is already available through the local offer of services, eligibility criteria for different components, local circumstances, commissioning arrangements and other individual factors such as school preference. The Authority would always consider the availability of Authority services already commissioned prior to commissioning any external provider.

The "Local Offer" sets out what is available from education, health, and social care to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, including those who do not have EHCPs.

Options for personal education budgets relate to more specialist or individualised provision. In addition, where a direct payment is requested as part of a personal budget, in relation to both education and social care services, the Authority must be satisfied that the person who receives the direct payments will:

• Use them in an appropriate way; and,
• Act in the best interests of the child.

The regulations governing the use of direct payments for special educational needs place a number of additional requirements on both Authorities and parents before a direct payment can be agreed. These include requirements to:

• Consider the impact on other service users and value for money; and,
• Seek agreement from educational establishments where a service funded by a direct payment is delivered on their premises.

Any funding for a SEN personal budget is for learning outcomes. The funding from the Authority's High Needs block for the SEN element of a personal budget will be based on the assessed needs of the child or young person and will usually be for support that is required in addition to the support a school or college is expected to provide from within delegated funding as part of the local offer.

What services currently lend themselves to a personal education budget in North Tyneside?

Education Other Than At School (EOTAS)

A personal budget may be considered where a young person is recorded as receiving an "Education Other Than at School" (EOTAS) support package. However, the Authority retains the responsibility for monitoring and reviewing any EOTAS package provided to a young person, to assist the family in management of that provision.

EOTAS will only be agreed when both parents/young person and the Authority agree that a school setting is not available or accessible for the child in the foreseeable future. Where a parent/young person wishes to have provision through a personal education budget the local multi-agency SEND Panel will agree an indicative budget based on a package of support which would otherwise be available for the child. The Authority has a duty to allocate public funding carefully so for a personal education budget to be agreed the package proposed by the parent would have to meet outcomes within the EHCP and be at the same or lower cost as the package proposed by the Authority.

High needs 'top-up' funding (Element 3) currently goes to schools and colleges to provide the support required by the child/young person to meet their identified outcomes. The scope of a personal budget for special educational needs will vary depending on a young person's or child/parent's preference for school or educational institution. For example, as part of their core provision, special schools and colleges make some specialist provision available that is not normally available in mainstream schools and colleges. The choice of a special school with integrated specialist provision may reduce the scope for a personal education budget.

Where possible, all travel assistance for eligible pupils should be commissioned through the North Tyneside Home to School Transport Team in line with the Home to School Transport Policy and Annual Post 19 Position Statement.

If a student is eligible for free school meals, they may be able to get funding towards meals while they are out of school. Please speak to the SEND Officer for further advice.

Elective Home Education (EHE)

Under Section 7 of the Education Act 1996 parents have the right to educate children, including children with Special Educational Needs (SEN), at home. Home education must be suitable to the child’s age, ability, aptitude and SEN.

In cases where the EHCP gives the name of a school or type of school where the child will be educated and the parents decide to educate at home, the Authority is not under a duty to make the special educational provision set out in the plan provided it is satisfied that the arrangements made by the parents are suitable. The Authority must review the EHCP annually (or every six months for those under five years of age) to assure itself that the provision set out in it continues to be appropriate and that the child’s SEN continue to be met.

It is therefore unlikely that a personal education budget would be agreed where a suitable school has been identified but a parent chooses to educate their child at home and to remove their name from the school roll. 

Request as part of EHC needs assessment or annual review

The process for requesting a personal education budget should be a collaborative process involving children, young people, and parents/carers in decision making. Developing and implementing individual EHCPs will provide an important route for identifying issues and developing the involvement of young people and parents.

It has been recognised through good family support work and early support provision that key-working and facilitation skills are essential to ensure that all families have opportunities to contribute their views regardless of their individual circumstances.

The opportunity to consider options, and make a request for a personal education budget, is part of the EHC assessment process.

A personal education budget can be requested following a new assessment if an EHCP is agreed, during the period when the EHCP has been drafted but not finalised or after a review when it has been agreed to maintain the EHCP. At the network meeting, where the draft EHCP is developed and outcomes agreed, the child's parents and the young person can indicate if they would like to request a personal education budget for any of the available elements and how, if agreed, they would like to manage this.

The first step is to request a personal education budget figure, which is the indicative amount it would cost to provide some or all of the provision described in an EHCP. When this cannot be disaggregated from the wider cost it will not be possible to provide a figure, and a personal education budget will be refused. For example, if a child attends a special school and receives speech and language therapy as part of the offer at that school, the costs of providing this for a specific child cannot be disaggregated from the wider cost of providing it to a number of pupils at the school, so a personal education budget request would be refused in this situation.  Alternatively, if a child attends a mainstream school but requires speech and language therapy as described in an EHCP, and is the only child in that school to access speech and language therapy, it might be possible to provide an indicative figure for the costs of this. If a parent/carer/young person wishes to request a direct payment for this so that they can choose a therapist, as long as this is cheaper or the same cost as the Authority provided speech and language therapist, then a personal education budget might be agreed. The parent could either receive a direct payment or ask the Authority to pay their chosen therapist on their behalf.  

If a direct payment is to be made, a formal agreement is set up between the family and the relevant commissioning agency. This includes monitoring and review arrangements to ensure the direct payment is used to buy the service which the child/young person has been assessed as needing as part of the EHCP, and where necessary, the recovery of unpaid sums.

Eligibility

• Young people who have an EHCP and their parents/carers have a right to request a personal budget for their support at any time while a draft EHCP is being prepared or an existing plan is being reviewed or re-assessed.

• The Personal Budget may contain elements of Education, Social Care and/or Health funding.

• The specific circumstances in which a personal budget for Education, Health and/or Care will be considered are outlined above. NB Personal budgets for health or social care can be requested outside of the EHC process and decisions will be made by the body concerned based on an assessment of need.

How are decisions made?

Each decision is made on its own individual merits and budgets may be agreed to meet outcomes for a set period. Each funding stream has its own decision-making system for allocating resources.  All requests for personal education budgets will be considered by the multi-agency SEND Panel and where this SEND Panel recommends approval, this will be presented to the High Needs SEND Panel chaired by the  Assistant Director, Commissioning, Partnerships and Transformation.

Any subsequent decision following the annual review will also be presented to the High Needs SEND Panel.

Decision-Making and the process is described in the personal education budget decision making flow chart, see appendix one.

The key principles in considering any request will be whether:

• The request is linked to the achievement of specific outcomes in the EHCP; and,
• The services for which a personal education budget has been requested could be commissioned more cost effectively elsewhere.

When can the Authority cease a payment?

There will be review of direct payments/personal education budgets through the annual review process. We will stop making direct payments/personal education budgets if:

• The recipient has notified us in writing that he or she no longer consents to receive the direct payments.
• The recipient ceases to be a person to whom direct payments may be made as set out below.
• Following a review, if it appears that the recipient is not using the payment to secure the agreed provision.
• The agreed provision can no longer be secured by means of direct payments.
• At any point we become aware that the making of direct payments:
•     Has an adverse impact on other services which we provide or arrange for children and young people with an EHCP which we maintain; or,
•     Is no longer compatible with the efficient use of our resources; or,
•     If the local authority has taken reasonable steps to ascertain whether the young person consents to direct payments and has not received confirmation of this consent.

If a personal education budget is in place, this will always be discussed as part of the annual review meeting. Any decision to end a personal education budget will be communicated in writing to the family detailing clear reasons for the decision. Advance notice will be given in writing to families of a decision to end a personal education budget within four weeks of the annual review meeting taking place. The updated EHCP will then be circulated for comment to all attendees.

What happens if you do not agree with a decision?

If you are not content with the outcome of the request for a personal education budget, you must make a request in writing to your SEND Officer within 15 days of being notified of the decision, for this to be reviewed. The Authority will review the decision within 28 days and will confirm the outcome in writing. You will be invited to discuss your concerns with the SEND Officer. Once this meeting has taken place, any evidence provided will be presented at the next SEND Panel for a recommendation.

In these circumstances, all SEND Panel recommendations will be presented to the High Needs SEND Panel chaired by the  Assistant Director, Commissioning, Partnerships and Transformation.

Monitoring and review

All decisions about a personal education budget are subject to annual review of EHCP or earlier if a child or young person's EHCP needs to be reviewed.

Mechanisms of control

Personal education budgets and direct payments are set up as a formal agreement with a requirement for a quarterly return.  The agreement is in appendix 2. Parents need to report the under use of funds and will be expected to repay, unused/surplus amounts.

It is possible for families to use a third-party organisation to manage their direct payments and ensure that the money is used to support the child and pay any necessary expenses for carers (i.e., national insurance). This service is available on an individual basis and will be discussed during the EHC needs assessment or annual review.

Appeals and complaints

Complaints about the process of setting up, administering, and monitoring the personal education budgets will be managed under the Authority’s complaint procedures. Details of these procedures are on the SEND Local Offer but will be provided by the SEND Officer on request.

A request can be made to the Authority to reconsider any decision.

Mediation and Tribunal

From 1 September 2014, the Children and Families Act introduced a duty on Authorities to arrange for parents and young people to receive information on mediation before they appeal to the Tribunal and to arrange mediation for parents and young people who want it. This is in addition to the existing duties to make disagreement resolution services available to parents. The decision about granting a personal education budget cannot be appealed through the SEND Tribunal, however, parents and young people can appeal to the SEND Tribunal about the special educational provision within the EHCP which they wish to secure through a personal education budget.

Advice and assistance in connection with personal education budgets is available through North Tyneside SENDIASS Special Educational Advice and Disabilities Information, Advice, and Support. SENDIASS is staffed by IPSEA-trained SEND advisors and can offer impartial, confidential, and free advice, which is at 'arm's length' to the Authority.  You can find out more about SENDIASS.

SENDIASS provide a programme of training delivered to the Authority and health staff, including Social Workers and SEND Officers, to ensure that there is a consistent approach and that they are able explain the personal budget options, benefits, and responsibilities that individuals and families should consider. This will include how decisions are to be properly made, recorded and reviewed.

Do we as parents have to have a plan/make a plan of how the money will be spent?

Yes – a personal education budget must be used to support an identified outcome in the EHCP, and this must be agreed by the school (if there is one), Authority and/or NHS. If you receive any form of cash payment you are expected to keep records to account for the money that has been spent and to show spending is in accordance with assessed needs. Your SEND Officer will discuss further with you how this works.

Does a personal budget affect benefits?

 A personal education budget does not affect the benefits you receive and is not considered an income.

What if I spend my personal education budget on something it was not meant for?

You may have to pay the money back and the Council might refuse to give you a personal budget in the future. We may ask the police to investigate anything if we think it could be fraud. To avoid these situations the Authority will ask you to keep a record of your spending and to open a separate bank account for direct payments to be paid into.

Are there proformas to be filled in around the way we spend the money?

Yes - there will be monitoring arrangements and information about these will be shared if a direct payment for a personal education budget is agreed (this can be found in appendix 2).

If all the money is not spent during the year, what happens to the unspent money? Is it returned to the Authority?

Yes – these arrangements are already in place for social care direct payments.

Who monitors the spending and how often?

Parents and carers are responsible for how money is spent and complying with the Authority monitoring arrangements which will take place at least annually, but this may change as we implement direct payments across a wider range of services. A termly check will take place by the SEND officers and a finance check will be undertaken quarterly by the finance officers.

What is the difference between a personal education budget and a direct payment?

A personal education budget shows you what money there is for the provision specified in an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) , and who provides it.

The parent or young person may or may not actually manage the funds directly. With a direct payment the parent/carer or young person is given the money for some services and manages the funds themselves.

The parent or young person is responsible for buying the service and paying for it. A personal education budget can include a direct payment if it is agreed that this is the best way to manage part of the personal education budget.

Direct payments can be used for special educational provision in a school or college only if the school or college agree. The Authorities can refuse a direct payment for special educational provision if it would make things worse for other children and young people with an EHC plan, or if it would be an inefficient way to pay for services.

It is also possible to have a Third-Party Arrangement to manage a Direct Payment.

The policy will be formally reviewed every three years. Minor amendments may be made by officers, each time approved by senior representatives across education, health and care.  

This policy should be read in conjunction with relevant policies on health and social care personal budgets.