Freedom of information response

1. How many children/young people within your Local Authority have been awarded and currently access Personal Budgets for Education (as at Jan 23)? 7

2. How many of the Personal Budgets for Education currently accessed have been provided as part of an Education Otherwise Than At/In School or College (EOTAS(C)/EOTIS(C)) provision described in their Education Health and Care Plan (as at Jan 23)? Fewer than 5

3. How many of the Personal Budgets for Education currently accessed have been awarded to children/young people who are being Electively Home Educated (EHE) (as at Jan 23)? 0

4. How many of the Personal Budgets for Education currently being accessed are awarded in the form of Direct Payments to families (as at Jan 23)? No Personal Budgets for Education are currently being awarded in the form of Direct Payments to families (as at January 2023)

5. What is the total annual cost of Personal Budgets for Education within your Local Authority (as at Jan 23)? Annual Cost £10,400

6. What is the total annual cost of Personal Budgets for Education allocated as Direct Payments to families within your Local Authority (as at Jan 23)? £0

We are unable to provide an exact number for question 2 above as:

• There is a low number involved.
• The release of this information could identify individuals which would constitute their personal data under the Data Protection Act
• There is no prior expectation on the part of these individuals that their personal information would be published in the wider public domain under the FOI Act
• Personal data of any other person is exempt under section 40 (2) of the Data Protection Act.

However in the interests of transparency we are able to provide this information to you categorised as fewer than 5 to give you an indication of the figures

You are free to use any information supplied to you for your own use, including non-commercial research purposes.  However, any other type of re-use, for example, by publishing the information or issuing copies to the public will require the permission of the copyright owner.

Where the copyright is owned by Thurrock Council, you must apply to the Council to re-use the information.  Please email information.matters@thurrock.gov.uk if you wish to re-use the information you have been supplied. For information where the copyright is owned by another person or organisation, you must apply to the copyright owner to obtain their permission.

If you are dissatisfied with the way in which the council have managed your FOI request you can pursue an Internal Review by contacting us using the above email address. Your request will be considered by a senior member of the Information Management Team who will update you with the outcome of the review. 

If you remain unhappy following the outcome of your Internal Review you may wish to refer your case to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and details of this organisation can be found at www.ico.org.uk . Please be advised that the ICO will not consider your case until they have confirmation that you have already been through the Internal Review stage with the council.