Personalised budgets, one of a range of planned SEND reforms, will allow families to have more say in decisions about their child’s care by allowing them to receive funds through a direct payment that they can use to buy the services and support they want.
However, concerns have previously been raised that the changes, due to be introduced from September next year, have not been tested enough.
And research carried out by the eight disability charities making up the SEND Consortium show that the majority of families with disabled children remain unaware about personal budgets or don’t know how to use them effectively.
In response, the Department for Education and Department of Health are to fund a pilot project that will see the 10 councils develop and test "brokerage services" to improve parents’ understanding of personal budgets.
SENDirect will be launched in March 2015 in Bexley, Cornwall, Coventry, Essex, Gateshead, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Oldham, Solihull and Telford & Wrekin.
Jolanta Lasota, spokeswoman for the SEND Consortium, said: “It’s fantastic that 10 local authorities have come forward so quickly and agreed to help us develop and pilot our planned brokerage service.
“Helping children and young people with SEND and their families receive the right services at the right time is key, but it is clear that under the current system personal budgets are not being used effectively.
“At the same time, more needs to be done to help local service providers successfully promote what they can offer and understand more about the needs of children and young people with SEND in their area.
"We hope that by working with the 10 local authorities, we will address these challenges, putting in place a brand new system for parent carers to help them use their allocated personal budgets so their children get the local health, education and social services they need.”
