Wirral EHC Personal Budgets –Statement of Intent - September 2014

The following statement of Intent relates to the duties of Wirral Council in relation to the Children and Families Act, 2014 (section 49), the Statutory Guidance and Code of Practice for special educational needs and disability 0- 25 years.

It applies to any child or young person with Special Educational Needs (SEN), who has an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and where a personal budget has been requested and agreed.

It is to be noted that there is no additional funding for Personal Budgets allocations of money must come from the existing Element Funding

1. What is a personal Budget

“ A Personal Budget is a sum of funding available for children and young people where it is clear that they need additional provision above that available to most children and young people through local services.” DfE Implementation Guidance July 2014. It is the part of the individual funding which is cashable and in some cases may be taken as a direct payment.

A detailed explanation of how a child or young person’s personal budget will be used to deliver the agreed provision will be included in Section J of the EHC Plan.

There are three ways a Personal Budget can be given to a family or young person:

 A direct payment - The family are given the money directly and use it to purchase the support that is agreed in the plan.

 A Third Party Managed Arrangement - A Charity or other organisation is given the money and helps the family or young person to spend it in accordance with the EHC Plan.

 An Organisational Arrangement - The money is sent directly to Health or the Council but the family/young person is told how much money is available and together they agree how it is spent. 2. Wirral’s Statement of Intent

Wirral embraces the spirit of the SEND Reforms and will strive in the coming months to develop the changes we have put in place in order to ensure that we have a fair system of support which puts children, young people and their families first. The eventual aim will be for pooled budgets between health and the Council, which give parents or young people who want it, more choice and control about the services they receive.

We will;

 From September1st 2014 consider all requests for Personal Budgets in a full and thorough way

 Work closely with Social Care Teams and “In Control” who have, in partnership with local families and young people, developed Resourced Allocation System for social care needs.

 Continue to build on the established Local Children’s Panel system which enables the alignment of Education, Health and Social Care budgets for children and young people who have complex medical needs (Continuing Care Needs).

 Build systems on the understanding that when agreeing to a Personal Budget we are in essence sending the “support funding” elsewhere than to the school, but that the school must be able to manage without it.

 Work with Health and Social Care Teams to ensure better partnership work regarding the use of Personal Budgets.

 Work towards the alignment of different funding streams towards the development of Single Personal Budgets.

 Work with partners and make every effort to ensure the everyone has realistic expectations of the changes and the pace at which they can be made

 Over the next few weeks there will be a series of meetings beginning with a discussion at the SEND Overview Group on September 10th. These will have representation from partners/ stake holders and will focus on the development of a co-produced policy on personal budgets which will be included in Wirral’s Local Offer as soon as possible. If you feel you could make a valuable contribution and would be interested in joining the meetings, please contact Julie Hudson – [email protected] or phone 0151 666 5600. 3. Support and Advice for Parents and Young People regarding Personal Budgets

We will work with local organisations to ensure that parents and young people have access to independent advice and support regarding Personal Budgets.

Wirral SEND Partnership, previously known as Parent Partnership Services, offer advice and support to parents which will include specific advice around Personal Budgets.

From September 2014 there will also be support/information available through the Independent Support Programme which will be supplied locally by Barnardo’s North West..

4. Funding Streams available for Personal Budgets

In the first instance Wirral intends to continue to use the existing Banding System which was introduced in April 2014 following the National Funding Reforms. This will be subject to a review in 2015 and changes will be tabled through the School Forum and Cabinet.

Please note that services that are supplied as part of a block contract will not currently be offered as available to take as part of a Personal Budget. If a personal budget is agreed the following aspects could be included;

Health Currently those children who are entitled to Children’s Continuing Care funding. It would also apply to long term health needs from April 2015. A Health Section will be inserted here

Care The budget would include funding arising from the assessed needs of children in need and individual funding necessary to provide the family of a child with a short break or family support.

A social Care Section will be inserted here

Education

This would include parts of, or all of element 3 of the school budget. Element 3 is the amount above what every pupil receives and the initial £6,000 of individually targeted school provision that the school provides. At the discretion of the head teacher/ college principal it could also include all/ parts of element 1/ 2 funding. If the pupil/ student is in a specialist college or special school it may not be possible to include all or part of this element because it will be part of the overall provision. Any staff employed by parents/ young people would have to have the school or college permission (usually the Head teacher or Principal) to work within that setting. Therefore this would need to be carefully planned as part of the assessment process and agreement for the personal budget.

Transport If requested, and meeting the transport criteria, as in the Wirral transport policy (Local Offer site), an amount per mile (outlined in the annual transport policy) would be granted if a personal travel budget was requested.

5.How will personal budgets be worked out?

When a statutory assessment is completed and the draft EHC plan is being shared, the personal budget process will be discussed with the family /young person. The benefits and responsibilities around the personal budget will be explained by either a lead professional, Education Health and Care Plan Coordinator, or in an information leaflet. Some families may already be accessing personal budgets in terms of care, and these will continue, and be incorporated in the final EHCP when one is issued. Some families may choose not to access a personal budget directly.

When all the professional and family reports are complete and the child/young person’s needs and the agreed outcomes are being discussed, the amount of funding available to the child/young person will be determined by the matching of their needs into the Council’s existing banding system. The parts of this funding that are discrete to that child/young person will then be discussed as being available through a personal budget.

6. The Decision Making Process

A robust mechanism to manage the decision making process around Personal Budgets will be developed .This system will take into account the existing panel processes in operation for education health, and social care. The system will strive to ensure fairness and transparency.

7. Eligibility

Children and young people will be eligible to request a Personal Budget after an assessment of their needs has been undertaken and it has been agreed that an EHC will be drafted. They may also request a Personal Budget during a statutory review of the existing EHC Plan. Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. I have decided that I want to request a Personal Budget and a Direct Payment. Must the Local Authority agree to this?

No - the Local Authority can only agree to this if they are sure that:

 You plan to use the Direct Payment in an appropriate way;

 You will act in the best interests of the child;

 Making the Direct Payment will not adversely impact upon other services provided to other children who have an EHC Plan;

 It is an efficient use of the Local Authority’s resources.

Where the support or service is to be used in a school the Headteacher of the school must agree. If they do not the Local Authority cannot make the payment.

If the Local Authority refuses a Direct Payment they must explain their decision in writing and also explain to you how you can challenge this decision.

If the refusal concerns the personal health part of the plan, then the explanation concerning the refusal must be sent out to the Clinical Commissioning Group who are the health organisation responsible for the decision.

Q2. I have decided that I want to request a Personal Budget and a Direct Payment but my child’s statement was completed recently and may not be updated to an Education and Health Care Plan for two years. Must the Local Authority agree to my request now?

No - your request will usually be considered when your child receives an Education and Health Care Plan. However, it may be possible to consider some parts of your request, or to bring forward the date for the Education and Health Care Plan. Talk to the professionals working with you and they will try to help find a way forward.

Q3. How much money will I get?

This will depend on the plan and will vary from child to child. The Local Authority must make sure that the amount they pay you is enough to meet the need identified and to purchase the support and services agreed in the plan. Q4 We both work - does this mean we will not be able to have a Personal Budget?

No - Personal Budgets are not means tested. However, if ;you child/young person is over 18 and part of the budget comes from Social Care then the family may have to make a financial contribution - you should talk to you social worker about this.

Q5. I do not really understand the difference between a Personal Budget and a Direct Payment. Can you explain?

A Personal Budget is the agreed amount you can use to meet the needs of your child. The budget can be used to purchase a range of services including council services. You do not have to handle the money, the budget can be held for you and you can control how it is spent.

Some families do not want to manage the money themselves and are happy for the budget to be held for them.

However, some families do want all or some of the money to be given to them so they can purchase services themselves. This is a Direct Payment. The money is paid to you and you open a separate bank account for it to be paid into. Any money not used is returned to the council.

Q6. Once the budget plan is written can it be changed during the year?

Yes - as long as there is money left in the budget to make the changes and the changes meet the needs of your child and the outcomes identified in the assessment. Any small changes will be looked at by the worker who completed the plan with you to make sure that the change is in the best interests of your child.