Personal Education Budget
Explaining Personal SEN Budgets in Telford & Wrekin
A Personal SEN Budget is the funding allocated to meet the additional and individual educational needs (Element 3 funding) of the child/young person within their Education, Health and Care Plan. It may also include Additional Learning Support (Element 2)funding contained within their EHC Plan. At present, any provision that is block funded (e.g. Speech and Language Therapy) or Resources Already Committed will not be included in the Personal SEN Budget but will still be included in the child/young person’s educational plan as required.
In Telford & Wrekin, we will work towards all children and young people with an EHC Plan having a Personal SEN Budget. This means that parents and young people will know how much resource is available, they will be involved in deciding the provision to achieve outcomes agreed in the EHC Plan and they will be involved in agreeing how a Personal SEN Budget is managed. A Personal SEN Budget does not mean a direct payment.
The table below shows the elements of education funding to support children/young people.
| Element 1 Funding | Element 2 Funding | Element 3 Funding |
|---|---|---|
|
(Not available as a personal SEN Budget) |
(Parts of this may be available as a personal SEN Budget via direct payment if setting agrees) |
(Parts of this may be available as a personal SEN Budget via direct payment if the Local Authority agrees) Also called High needs Block and Individual & Additional Learning Support |
Levels of Support and Funding Streams Explained
Level 1 funding (Universal support):
Support for all children/young people to achieve good quality learning outcomes. Each setting receives an amount to fund a place. This funding is not a Personal SEN Budget.
Level 2 Funding (Targeted support):
Services and support targeted on a group of children/young people due to a particular common learning support need. This may include funding of support staff, focused literacy support, behaviour management programmes etc. Most children will be supported as ‘SEN support’.
Each setting must provide additional support up to the value of £6000 to meet the additional support needs of children and young people who need it. This funding is included within the SEN Personal Budget. It is only available as a direct payment if the setting agrees.
Level 3 Funding (Individual support):
A small number of children and young people need additional and individual support to enable them to access learning activities, to be included within their Education setting and to achieve well. These children and young people will have an Education, Health and Care Plan, supported by a Personal SEN Budget.
How Personal SEN Budgets Work in Telford & Wrekin
When the local authority agrees that an EHC Plan is needed, we will allocate ‘level 3’ resource required to meet the child or young person’s educational needs. Parents and young people will be told the resource available through a banded level (the banded level ‘cash’ amount will be published on the Local Offer) and can work with everyone involved to agree what needs to be put in place to meet the child or young person’s educational needs. This is an opportunity to be creative and flexible as a team and to think about the best way to get results.