Money

Personal budget for special educational needs

A personal budget gives you more choice and control over the support your child receives for their special educational needs. Learn about how these budgets work, who can access them, and how they can be used to create tailored support packages that meet your child's specific needs.

Understand the process of applying for and managing a personal budget, explore different ways to use the funding, and discover how to make informed decisions about your child's support.

Contact details

What is a personal budget?

A personal budget for SEN is money identified to pay for support specified in an education, health and care (EHC) plan for a child or young person with special educational needs. It can include funds from the local authority for education and social care and from the NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) for health.

How can I use a personal budget?

There are four ways you can use a personal budget:

Sometimes the local authority, school or college will look after the personal budget for you. This is called an arrangement or a notional budget.
You might receive money directly to manage all or part of the personal budget yourself. This is called a direct payment.
Sometimes you can opt to have someone else to manage the personal budget for you. This is called a Third Party Arrangement.
It is possible to have a mixture of some or all of these arrangements.

Useful links

NHS personal budgets for children, young people and families
Penderels Trust – personal budget support for adults
Meeting New Horizons – personal budget support for children and young people

Personal health budgets for children, young people and families

NHS England is working with partners across education and social care to support more young people with complex health needs to access personal health budgets.

For further information please visit NHS England or the North Lincolnshire Council website.

Personal health budgets can improve people’s quality of life and their experience of care, by helping people to have more choices about how their healthcare needs are met.

Cost of living

We’ve brought together advice, guidance and support both from the council and external agencies and organisations. This guidance offers help including; grants and benefits available and helping with training and employment opportunities.

If you are struggling financially, it is sometimes hard to know where to turn. We are here to help. Find information on how to get financial support, advice and assistance.

Other organisations are also here to help with advice and support:

Ageuk.org.uk/financialsupport or call 0800 169 6565 and quote 'WINTER'.
Scunthorpe Foodbank – Trussell Trust
Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire

What is LiveWell North Lincolnshire?

LiveWell North Lincolnshire is your central hub for discovering local health, wellbeing, and community services.

Find local services, groups, and activities that match your interests and needs.

LiveWell North Lincolnshire is an online information hub that provides information on a range of organisations, support groups, community groups, events, and activities that are available across the county.

With hundreds of services listed, LiveWell is a wealth of information at your fingertips.

Council tax discount and exemptions

Find out if you're eligible for reductions on your council tax bill through various discounts and exemptions available to North Lincolnshire residents.

Discover the different types of discounts available, including support for single occupancy, students, disability-related adaptations, and other circumstances.

There are a range of council tax discounts available but certain conditions may apply in order to qualify and supporting evidence will be required. The main discounts available are listed on the Council Tax page for guidance only.

Benefits

Understanding and accessing the benefits you're entitled to can make a significant difference to your household. Discover the range of financial support available, from disability benefits and housing support to income-related assistance and carer's allowances.

We can help you navigate the benefits system, understand your entitlements, and guide you through the application processes.

Universal Credit is paid monthly. How much you get depends on:

your standard allowance
any extra amounts that apply to you
any money taken off your payment
if you’re working, how much you earn

See how much you could get by visiting the Universal Credit website.

This benefit is for people who find it harder to get a job. Read more on the Government website:

Cinema discount - CEA Card
National Disability Card UK

Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children may help with the extra costs of looking after a child who:

is under 16
has difficulties walking or needs much more looking after than a child of the same age who does not have a disability.

Further information is available on the gov.uk website.

If you need help to complete a DLA form for a child, contact Citizens Advice.

Who can apply for DSA?

As a higher education student living in England, you can apply for a Disabled Students’ Allowance (DSA) if you have a disability, including a:

long-term health condition
mental health condition
specific learning difficulty, e.g. dyslexia

You must meet the definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010.

Further details of what you can get, what DSAs can pay for, eligibility criteria and how to apply are available on the gov.uk website.

Carers may have access to the following benefits:

Council tax and housing benefit
Council tax – the carer’s discount

You may be entitled to a reduction in your council tax bill if you look after someone who

Receives the higher or middle rate of the Care Component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or receives Attendance Allowance
Cared for by you for a minimum of 35 hours per week (If you receive Carer’s Allowance, previously known as Invalid Care Allowance, you have already proven you care for more than 35 hours per week).
Not your spouse or partner
Over 18
Lives with you

Other benefits

Attendance Allowance – paid to people who are over 65 and have health problems and care needs.
Disability Living Allowance – paid to people disabled before the age of 65.

Other means-tested benefits

Income Support
Housing Benefit
Council Tax Benefit
Pension Credit

A carer’s premium is included in these benefits for people who are entitled to Carer’s Allowance. This includes people who would be paid Carer’s Allowance but do not get paid because of the overlapping benefit rule. For more information visit gov.uk.

Blue Badge Parking Scheme

Contact a Family

Contact a Family can provide information on benefits and other sources of financial help. You can call the free Contact a Family helpline on 0808 808 3555 and the staff can carry out a full benefits check for you.

Entitledto

Entitledto can help people determine what they can claim from national and local government via their self-serve calculators. This includes information on income-related benefits, tax credits, contribution-based benefits, Council Tax Reduction, Carer’s Allowance, Universal Credit and how your benefits will be affected if you start work.

Turn2us

Turn2us can help you work out your entitlement to income-related benefits, Universal Credit and tax credits by using their benefits calculator.

Well Child

Further helpful information about financial help you may be entitled to is on the Well Child website.

Family Fund

Family Fund are a grant-making charity for families raising a disabled or seriously ill child, on a low income.

Benefit cap

The benefit cap is a limit on the total amount of benefit payments you can receive. Understanding how this cap works, who it affects, and what benefits are included or excluded can help you better plan your household finances.

Learn about the current benefit cap levels, find out which benefits count towards the cap, and discover potential exemptions that might apply to your situation.

Benefits affected by the cap

The benefit cap is a limit on the total amount of benefit you can get. It applies to most people aged between 16-64 years of age.

The amount your household gets from some benefits might go down to make sure you do not get more than the cap limit. The benefit cap affects:

Bereavement Allowance
Child Benefit
Child Tax Credit
Employment and Support Allowance
Housing Benefit
Incapacity Benefit
Income Support
Jobseeker’s Allowance
Maternity Allowance
Severe Disablement Allowance
Widowed Parent’s Allowance (or Widowed Mother’s Allowance or Widow’s Pension if you started getting it before 9 April 2001)
Universal Credit

Benefit cap amounts

The amount you get through the benefit cap depends on whether:

you live inside or outside Greater London
you’re single or in a couple
your children live with you (if you’re single)

If you’re in a couple but you do not live together, you’ll get the amounts for a single person.

Use the benefit cap calculator to find out how much your benefit might be capped.

Visit the Government website to see current rates of benefits both within London and outside of London.

When you are not affected

You’re not affected by the cap if you’re over State Pension age. If you’re part of a couple and one of you is under State Pension age, the cap may apply.

You’re not affected by the cap if you or your partner get:

Working Tax Credit (even if the amount you get is £0)
Universal Credit because of a disability or health condition that stops you from working (this is called ‘limited capability for work and work-related activity’)
Universal Credit because you care for someone with a disability
Universal Credit and you and your partner earn more than £569 a month combined, after tax and National Insurance contributions

You’re also not affected by the cap if you, your partner or any children under 18 living with you gets:

Armed Forces Compensation Scheme
Armed Forces Independence Payment
Attendance Allowance
Carer’s Allowance
Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
Employment and Support Allowance (if you get the support component)
Guardian’s Allowance
Industrial Injuries Benefits (and equivalent payments as part of a War Disablement Pension or the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
War pensions
War Widow’s or War Widower’s Pension

This information is covered by the Open Government Licence.

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