Children and young people with special educational needs and or a disability will attend a school or college where their needs can usually be met by the resources that the school or college have available as part of their “Local Offer”.
However additional funding over and above the school or college place could be made available if an assessment has identified that the learning support needs cannot be met within the school/college place funding.
Local Authorities can use their High Needs funding to commission services from schools and colleges, including special schools. In practice, this will mean the funding from the local authority’s high needs budget for the SEN element of a Personal Budget will vary depending on how services are commissioned locally and what schools and colleges are expected to provide as part of the “Local Offer”, therefore the scope of a Personal Budget will vary depending on school preference.
For example, as part of their core provision, special schools and colleges make some specialist provision available that is not normally available at mainstream schools and colleges. The particular choice of a special school, with integrated specialist provision, might reduce the scope for a Personal Budget.