Personal budgets for education

To be eligible for a personal budget for educational provision, you must have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

Personal budgets for education must:

  • support educational outcomes as described in the EHCP
  • support successful inclusion in the chosen school
  • enable achievement of educational progression

Support may include:

  • additional support in the classroom
  • a specific intervention or piece of equipment

Requesting a personal budget

The parents or carers of a child or young person can request a personal budget:

  • when an EHC needs assessment has been completed and a decision has been made to create an EHCP
  • at the annual review of an existing EHCP

A young person can request their own personal budget at the end of the school year after they turn 16 years old.

If a child or young person does not want a personal budget, they can choose to let the local authority or NHS Integrated Care (Stockport) plan and provide for their needs.

Funding for personal budgets

Funding for personal budgets comes from the local authority's high needs funding. The amount of money available can vary depending on how services are commissioned and what schools and colleges are expected to provide as part of the local offer. It can also vary depending on your school preference. As part of their core provision, special schools and colleges make some specialist provision available that is not normally available at mainstream schools and colleges. This means that a personal budget may not be offered. If your school preference is a mainstream school that does not have integrated specialist provision, there may be more opportunity for a personal budget.

Schools and colleges are encouraged to personalise the support they provide for children and young people and they can choose to contribute their own funding to a personal budget. This will usually be an organised arrangement, managed by the school or college. Some schools and colleges, including specialist settings, have arrangements with young people and can provide direct payments.

Direct payments

If a direct payment for special education provision is proposed, it must be agreed with the child or young person's school or college if the support is expected to be delivered there. The school or college will then be named in the child or young person's EHCP.

If a direct payment is used to employ someone to support the child or young person on early years, school or college premises, that person must follow the policies and procedures of the education setting. This may need to be written into the conditions for receiving the direct payment.

If your request for a personal budget is not accepted

Requests for personal budgets are always considered on an individual basis. There are some circumstances where it is not possible to provide a personal budget. For example:

  • for partly or fully funding a school placement
  • if the money is part of a larger amount and splitting it for the personal budget would:
    • have a negative affect on services provided by the council or other people with EHCPs
    • not be an efficient use of council resources

If your request for a personal budget is not accepted, we'll continue to work with you and your child's school to look at other support options.

Reviewing personal budgets

Personal budgets will be reviewed as part of the wider review of a child or young person's EHCP. The review will look at what is working well and whether any parts of the plan need to be changed. This includes checking that the personal budget is meeting the planned outcomes.

Contact details

To request a personal budget for education, you can:

  • talk to your EHCP case worker
  • contact the Education, Health and Care Plan team by:
    • phone: 0161 474 2525
    • email: specialeducation@stockport.gov.uk
    • post:
      Education, Health and Care Plan Team
      c/o The Scanning and Support Team
      Lower Ground Floor, Stopford House
      Town Hall
      Stockport
      SK1 3XE