A personal budget is the amount of money a council identifies to meet some of the needs in your child’s EHCP, which you can have some say over and, in some cases, take as a direct payment to arrange support yourself. It is one of the few parts of the SEND system designed to put parents and carers in control. The law gives you the right to ask for one when a plan is being drawn up or reviewed.
Very few families have one, and whether you do depends heavily on where you live. In 2025, just 3.1% of EHCPs in England came with a personal budget. Behind that national figure sits an enormous gap between councils, from almost none to more than four in ten. This report sets out what the Department for Education’s figures show, council by council, and points you to your right to ask.
A rare thing, nationally
Across England, personal budgets remain the exception rather than the rule, even though the right to ask has existed for over a decade.
That works out at 19,596 plans, up 7.3% on the previous year. Most personal budgets are arranged for social care, with around one in six taken as a direct payment for education that the family manages themselves. If yours is one of them, that’s the part where you’re paying a tutor or therapist directly, rather than waiting for the council to arrange it.
The same right, wildly different odds
The national average hides a postcode lottery. In some councils a personal budget is almost unheard of; in others it is close to routine.
DfE, Education, health and care plans, 2025
The highest take-up in the country is in St. Helens, where 42.77% of plans came with a personal budget. At the other end, several councils recorded a fraction of one percent, and a further eight didn’t return any personal budget data at all, so they’re left out of this comparison rather than counted as a zero. Two families with children who have identical needs can get a completely different answer simply because they live on different sides of a council boundary. That isn’t how a legal right is supposed to work.
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Type a local authority to see what share of its EHCPs came with a personal budget in 2025, and how that compares with the England average of 3.1%.
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Tap a column heading to sort. Highest is shown first by default.
| # | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North West | 2,179 | 42.77% |
| 2 | East of England | 8,837 | 24.04% |
| 3 | East Midlands | 1,909 | 23.36% |
| 4 | East Midlands | 5,422 | 20.97% |
| 5 | South West | 2,772 | 17.24% |
| 6 | North East | 966 | 15.94% |
| 7 | North West | 1,712 | 15.48% |
| 8 | London | 3,791 | 13.29% |
| 9 | London | 2,954 | 10.87% |
| 10 | North West | 2,309 | 10.65% |
| 11 | North East | 2,298 | 10.31% |
| 12 | North West | 3,143 | 10.15% |
| 13 | South East | 2,310 | 9.52% |
| 14 | London | 3,244 | 9.22% |
| 15 | South West | 1,643 | 8.7% |
| 16 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 3,695 | 8.58% |
| 17 | London | 2,119 | 8.54% |
| 18 | North West | 2,377 | 8.29% |
| 19 | London | 3,005 | 8.15% |
| 20 | West Midlands | 2,439 | 8.08% |
| 21 | North East | 3,000 | 7.93% |
| 22 | North East | 3,095 | 7.72% |
| 23 | North West | 3,579 | 7.66% |
| 24 | North East | 1,923 | 7.59% |
| 25 | North West | 2,804 | 7.49% |
| 26 | East of England | 1,992 | 7.03% |
| 27 | East of England | 8,007 | 6.91% |
| 28 | South East | 1,685 | 6.47% |
| 29 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 1,664 | 6.37% |
| 30 | North West | 2,970 | 6.26% |
| 31 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 5,486 | 6% |
| 32 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 5,952 | 5.48% |
| 33 | North East | 1,122 | 5.44% |
| 34 | West Midlands | 3,477 | 5.26% |
| 35 | West Midlands | 3,805 | 4.94% |
| 36 | North East | 3,873 | 4.54% |
| 37 | North West | 8,875 | 4.5% |
| 38 | East Midlands | 3,735 | 4.47% |
| 39 | South West | 4,931 | 4.38% |
| 40 | North West | 4,871 | 4.29% |
| 41 | North West | 3,736 | 4.28% |
| 42 | East Midlands | 7,625 | 4.26% |
| 43 | North West | 3,506 | 4.22% |
| 44 | London | 4,040 | 4.06% |
| 45 | North West | 1,661 | 3.97% |
| 46 | North West | 3,604 | 3.97% |
| 47 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 1,556 | 3.92% |
| 48 | North West | 2,893 | 3.7% |
| 49 | West Midlands | 6,868 | 3.68% |
| 50 | East Midlands | 8,420 | 3.55% |
| 51 | North West | 12,317 | 3.36% |
| 52 | South East | 1,966 | 3.26% |
| 53 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 3,245 | 3.17% |
| 54 | South East | 4,939 | 3.12% |
| 55 | North West | 1,522 | 3.09% |
| 56 | South West | 5,725 | 3.07% |
| 57 | West Midlands | 12,094 | 3.01% |
| 58 | West Midlands | 3,016 | 2.95% |
| 59 | East of England | 12,920 | 2.9% |
| 60 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 3,623 | 2.82% |
| 61 | East Midlands | 376 | 2.66% |
| 62 | London | 3,391 | 2.48% |
| 63 | South West | 3,236 | 2.47% |
| 64 | North West | 3,387 | 2.45% |
| 65 | South East | 1,799 | 2.28% |
| 66 | South West | 4,333 | 2.19% |
| 67 | North West | 3,473 | 2.16% |
| 68 | London | 1,958 | 1.99% |
| 69 | South West | 2,469 | 1.9% |
| 70 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 1,983 | 1.87% |
| 71 | London | 2,018 | 1.78% |
| 72 | West Midlands | 3,148 | 1.78% |
| 73 | South East | 7,307 | 1.7% |
| 74 | West Midlands | 1,717 | 1.51% |
| 75 | South West | 4,949 | 1.45% |
| 76 | South East | 9,301 | 1.43% |
| 77 | South East | 2,800 | 1.32% |
| 78 | South West | 6,383 | 1.25% |
| 79 | East Midlands | 7,196 | 1.15% |
| 80 | North West | 3,808 | 1.08% |
| 81 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 6,093 | 1.05% |
| 82 | South West | 2,644 | 0.98% |
| 83 | London | 2,730 | 0.95% |
| 84 | East of England | 4,035 | 0.94% |
| 85 | London | 3,663 | 0.9% |
| 86 | West Midlands | 2,503 | 0.88% |
| 87 | London | 3,175 | 0.88% |
| 88 | South West | 6,412 | 0.86% |
| 89 | London | 3,382 | 0.83% |
| 90 | South East | 1,654 | 0.73% |
| 91 | South East | 2,206 | 0.73% |
| 92 | London | 2,582 | 0.7% |
| 93 | North East | 1,776 | 0.68% |
| 94 | South East | 1,342 | 0.67% |
| 95 | London | 4,395 | 0.66% |
| 96 | North West | 3,652 | 0.66% |
| 97 | South East | 16,069 | 0.64% |
| 98 | London | 819 | 0.61% |
| 99 | South East | 7,217 | 0.6% |
| 100 | East of England | 12,147 | 0.6% |
| 101 | West Midlands | 4,743 | 0.59% |
| 102 | East of England | 2,508 | 0.56% |
| 103 | South East | 17,784 | 0.55% |
| 104 | South West | 9,848 | 0.53% |
| 105 | London | 3,552 | 0.53% |
| 106 | London | 3,316 | 0.51% |
| 107 | East Midlands | 4,153 | 0.51% |
| 108 | South West | 4,432 | 0.47% |
| 109 | London | 3,267 | 0.43% |
| 110 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 2,556 | 0.43% |
| 111 | London | 4,320 | 0.42% |
| 112 | West Midlands | 3,405 | 0.41% |
| 113 | London | 4,970 | 0.4% |
| 114 | North East | 1,492 | 0.4% |
| 115 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 3,044 | 0.39% |
| 116 | North East | 5,390 | 0.39% |
| 117 | London | 4,555 | 0.37% |
| 118 | West Midlands | 8,461 | 0.35% |
| 119 | London | 5,232 | 0.34% |
| 120 | South East | 20,635 | 0.31% |
| 121 | East of England | 2,723 | 0.29% |
| 122 | West Midlands | 6,970 | 0.29% |
| 123 | East of England | 2,170 | 0.28% |
| 124 | London | 1,429 | 0.28% |
| 125 | London | 1,607 | 0.25% |
| 126 | London | 1,199 | 0.25% |
| 127 | North East | 2,442 | 0.25% |
| 128 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 3,857 | 0.23% |
| 129 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 3,142 | 0.19% |
| 130 | East of England | 2,908 | 0.17% |
| 131 | North East | 2,019 | 0.15% |
| 132 | London | 3,696 | 0.14% |
| 133 | London | 3,681 | 0.11% |
| 134 | East Midlands | 4,551 | 0.09% |
| 135 | London | 3,063 | 0.07% |
| 136 | Yorkshire and The Humber | 7,493 | 0.07% |
| 137 | North West | 6,814 | 0.07% |
| 138 | East Midlands | 4,057 | 0.05% |
| 139 | South East | 2,192 | 0.05% |
| 140 | London | 2,689 | 0.04% |
| 141 | North West | 2,789 | 0.04% |
| 142 | South East | 2,785 | 0.04% |
| 143 | London | 3,469 | 0.03% |
| 144 | South East | 2,982 | 0.03% |
| 145 | North West | 4,858 | 0.02% |
Not shown: City of London, Essex, Hammersmith and Fulham, Isles of Scilly, Kirklees, Medway, Plymouth, Sandwell. This council did not return personal-budget data for 2025, so it has no comparable figure (a blank in the data, not a zero).
Source: DfE, Education, health and care plans, Reporting year 2025, files personal_budgets.csv and caseload.csv. The 145 reporting councils reconcile to the published England total of 19,600 plans with a personal budget.
A low number in your area doesn’t mean you can’t have one. The right to ask for a personal budget is national, not local. By law, the council must prepare one if you ask, and it can only refuse in narrow circumstances, such as when the funding can’t be separated out from a larger contract elsewhere. If it says no, it must give its reasons in writing.
What a personal budget is, and how to ask
A personal budget isn’t extra money on top of the plan. It is a way of giving you more control over funding that is already meant to meet your child’s needs.
The moment to ask is when a plan is being drafted or at an annual review. Ask in writing for a personal budget, say which outcomes in the plan you want it to cover, and ask for the council’s personal budget policy if you haven’t seen it.
- For how personal budgets and direct payments actually work, start with our guide to EHCP personal budgets.
- If you want to arrange care or support yourself, direct payments for a disabled child explains the option in more detail.
- If you are at the start of the process, what an EHCP is and whether your child needs one sets out the basics.
- To see how your council performs on plan deadlines too, see our report on EHCP timeliness by council.
Methodology and sources
All the figures are from the Department for Education’s official statistics release Education, health and care plans, reporting year 2025, published on 26 June 2025, at the January 2025 snapshot. The personal budget count for each council comes from the release’s personal budgets file, and the number of plans in force from its caseload file. The percentage for each council is our calculation, dividing the number of plans with a personal budget by the number of plans in force.
The 145 councils that returned personal budget data account for all 19,596 plans with a budget, which reconciles to the published England total. Importantly, 8 councils didn’t return personal budget data for 2025. They appear as a blank in the league table, not a zero, and are left out of any lowest-ranking comparison, because a missing figure isn’t the same as no take-up. Data accessed June 2026.