What is a personal budget
- A pot of money which can be used to help support a child or young person with social care, health or educational needs.
- It's based on an assessment of what help is needed, which is included as part of your child's or young person's Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan.
- The amount you get can change as your child’s or young person's needs change.
Who can get a personal budget
- a parent of a child and/or a young person aged 0 to 25 years who has an Education, Health and Care plan and
- who lives in Leicestershire (not Leicester City)
A personal budget can be made up of any of the following 3 areas:
Education
- your child’s school has funding for special educational needs from the high needs funding made available to schools
- only children and young people with the most severe and complex learning support needs will have their own personal education budget
Social care
A personal care budget may be made available if your child or you as a young person need additional support at home and when out and about in the local and wider community.
This may include:
- help in the home
- support to access social activities
- support to access short break services
Health
A personal health budget may be available on its own or in addition to the other 2 budgets. Our personal health budget page has more information.
How you get the money
You can get the money as a:
- direct payment
- managed budget – where we hold the money and buy your care for you
- third-party direct payment to a friend or relative or an organisation that runs a payment service
- third-party direct payment to a care provider such as a home care agency – this is called a ‘provider managed account’
- mix of direct payment, managed budget and third-party direct payment