Personal Budgets (SEN and disabilities)

Personal Budgets are a way of providing support that meets the needs of young people and their parents.

They will allow young people and parents to have greater choice and control over how you receive support and allow you to:

  • Control some or all of the money you get for support
  • Choose how to spend money for your support
  • Choose services and other things in your life, for example, who you want to get support from

Not all families will be entitled to a Personal Budget.  However, some families will be eligible for a Personal Budget/Direct Payment from the council and possibly health services.

Further information is included in our Pilot Personal Budgets Policy Statement (click on the link on the right hand side of this page). To complement this, a simplified and family friendly summary of the policy is being developed with Merton's local parents group.

How much will I get?

This depends on many factors and to fairly calculate this we will use a Resource Allocation System (RAS), after which we will be able to tell you what you could expect to receive.

How can I spend it?

Personal Budgets can only be used by you or your child to pay for services to meet your education, health or care outcomes as identified in the EHC plan. They cannot used for something you would normally buy yourself.

You can commission support or services to meet these agreed outcomes by yourself or via a 3rd party. If you need any assistance, help to write and cost a support plan and then help you to organise your care and support is available.

You will be contacted from time to time to make sure everything is going okay and that you are receiving the support you need in a way that suits you or your family.

How will I get the money?

Your Personal Budget will normally be paid as a direct payment (usually monthly) to a pre-paid card.

Plans for Implementation

Please see the Frequently Asked Questions for information about the current plans for implementation of Personal Budgets in Merton.

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Page last reviewed: 29/07/2020

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