Personal budgets
A personal budget is funding provided by Surrey County Council to meet the needs of a child/young person and support them in achieving their outcomes. It could be available for special educational needs (SEN) provision, health care provision and social care provision or a combination of these.
Social care budget
A personal social care budget may be available if following an assessment, it is clear that a child or young person needs additional and individual support at home, or support when out and about in the local and wider community.
A personal social care budget may also be offered to purchase equipment recommended by a social care occupational therapist following an Occupational therapy assessment in the home.
Children and young people under-18
A personal social care budget will be 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. This is determined by local eligibility and whether the child is a 'child in need' as defined in the Children Act 1989. Refer to the personal budget and direct payments policies for more information.
An example of what a personal budget for a child's social care needs could be used for might include could:
- Pursuing indoor and outdoor activities in the local community, such as sports, day trips, clubs, and learning centres
- Short stays in care homes or respite centres
- Equipment, tools, aids, and technology that is not provided by the NHS, and their ongoing maintenance
- Transport costs for outdoors activities or day centres
Young people over-18
Following an assessment of care and support needs by adult social care packages of support agreed can be arranged through a personal budget as a direct payment.
An example of what a personal budget for adult social care needs could be used for might include:
- Accessing the local community
- Taking part in sports, horse riding, day trips
- going to clubs and leisure or learning centres and education sessions
Personal health budget (PHB)
A personal health budget (PHB) is an amount of money to support a child/young person's health and wellbeing needs, which is planned and agreed with the local NHS team.
A personal health budget allows the parent/carer or young person to manage healthcare and support such as treatments, equipment and personal care, in a way that suits them.
Personal Health Budgets in Surrey are awarded through Surrey CCG and are subject to individual assessment and review.
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 Care.
For more information on how this type of budget is arranged and monitored see Personal Health Budgets - ICS (surreyheartlands.org)
Special Educational Needs and/ or Disability (SEND) budget
A personal SEND budget is the amount of money required to meet the needs of a child or young person with an education, health and care (EHC) plan. It can help give parents/carers or young people more control over what the money is spent on and who spends it. It might include things like a personal transport budget. A Personal Budget for SEND is money to pay for the support specified in a child or young person's Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan. Therefore, it can include elements for education, social care, and health.
Personal budget payments
There are four ways a personal budget can be paid by the Council:
A Direct Payment, this means you receive money directly to manage all or part of the Personal Budget yourself. A Direct Payment is just one way of paying a personal budget, but it is still a personal budget.
An Arrangement or a Notional Budget, which means that the local authority, school or college looks after the Personal Budget for you and manage all of the arrangements.
A Third-Party Arrangement, which means that you choose someone else to manage the Personal Budget for you. The organisation you choose, such as your care provider, will speak to the council and arrange the payments. Sometimes other organisations charge you extra money to arrange payments from the council.
Or you could have a mixture of some or all of these arrangements.
Is a Direct Payment a Personal Budget?
Sometimes people refer to Direct Payments when they talk about Personal Budgets. A personal budget may not necessarily include a direct payment.
A Direct Payment is the payment sent to the parents/carers or young person, as set out in the personal budget. As above it is just one way of delivering a personal budget.
A personal budget may not necessarily include a direct payment.