EOTAS Packages, Funding, Budgets and Provision

A package is built from the assessed needs and the EHCP outcomes. The examples below are possible elements, not entitlements, and each would only appear where it is justified for that child.

• Specialist teaching or individual tutoring
• Small-group learning where it is appropriate
• Therapeutic or specialist educational programmes
• Speech and language therapy where it is special educational provision
• Occupational therapy where it is special educational provision
• Specialist teaching for sensory, physical, communication or learning needs
• Educational support delivered at home or in the community
• Structured outdoor, practical or vocational learning where educationally appropriate
• Specialist equipment or resources
• Support with communication, regulation, access and participation
• Travel or support arrangements where necessary to access the specified education

Health or social care provision should be recorded in the correct section of the plan. It should not simply be placed in Section F unless it is properly considered to be special educational provision.

A costed package sets out the proposed provision alongside what it would take to deliver it. It turns a description of need into something an authority can consider, commission and monitor.

• The need each element responds to
• The EHCP outcome it works towards
• What will be delivered, and by whom
• Frequency, session length and duration across the year
• The qualifications or expertise required of the provider
• Where delivery will take place
• Any equipment, materials or access costs
• The quoted or expected cost, and how it was obtained
• How delivery and progress will be recorded and reviewed

A costed package is a proposal. It does not bind the Local Authority, and the authority may commission differently or reach a different view on any element.

Every line in a costed package is easier to justify when it is traced back to something. A simple way to do this is one row per element: the need or barrier, the evidence for it, the impact on education, the provision required, and the intended outcome.

The full evidence checklist is on the how to request EOTAS page.

Descriptions work best when another person could read them and deliver exactly what was intended. For each element, that usually means naming what is delivered, how often, for how long, by someone with what expertise, where, and how progress will be shown.

Activities need particular care. An activity should be described by its educational purpose and the need it addresses, not by the activity alone. If an element cannot be linked to a need and an outcome, it will be difficult to justify as special educational provision.

A personal budget is an amount of money identified by the Local Authority to deliver parts of the provision in an EHCP, where the parent or young person is involved in securing that provision. It can be arranged in different ways, including direct payments, arrangements held by the authority or a provider, or a combination.

The statutory basis is Section 49 of the Children and Families Act 2014 (opens in a new tab), with further detail in the SEND Code of Practice (opens in a new tab). A personal budget is not automatic, is not the same as an EOTAS package, and does not change the authority’s duty to secure the provision specified in the plan.

Whatever the funding route, clear records make reviews, queries and audits far easier. Useful records usually include:

• Funding approved by the Local Authority, by area of provision
• Provider quotes and agreed rates
• Invoices received, with dates and reference numbers
• Payments made, and by whom, including direct payments to providers
• Mileage and agreed package expenses
• Money received, money spent and the balance remaining
• Areas that are over or under the approved funding
• Sessions planned, delivered, cancelled or not delivered

A funding template is simply a consistent layout for the money side of a package: one row per element of provision, showing the funding approved, the provider, the agreed cost, invoices received, amounts paid, whether payment goes direct to the provider, and the amount remaining.

The value of a template is consistency. It means the same information is presented the same way each term, so differences between what was approved and what has been spent are visible early rather than at the annual review.

Costs do change: rates rise, session lengths alter, a provider stops working, or a new provider is needed. When that happens it usually helps to record the change and the reason, obtain an updated quote in writing, recalculate the position for the remainder of the year, and tell the Local Authority in writing where the change affects the approved funding.

If a change means the provision specified in the plan can no longer be delivered as written, that is a matter to raise with the authority rather than absorb quietly, because the duty to secure the specified provision continues.

A short, regular check against Section F is usually more useful than a large annual reconstruction.

• Is each element of Section F actually being delivered?
• Is it being delivered at the specified frequency and length?
• Is the provider suitably qualified as described?
• What has been delivered, cancelled or missed, and why?
• Is spending in line with the approved funding?
• Has the child’s need or presentation changed?
• Is anything no longer working, or no longer needed?
• What should be raised at the next review?

Simplified Support offers a practical package management service: organising providers, quotes, invoices, payments, mileage, budgets, weekly plans, evidence and review preparation, and keeping a clear record of what has been delivered and what has been spent.

This is practical administration and organisation. It is not legal advice or legal representation, and it does not determine what a Local Authority will fund.

Checked on 22 September 2026. Always check the current version before relying on it.

• Children and Families Act 2014, Section 61 (opens in a new tab)
• Children and Families Act 2014, Section 42 (opens in a new tab)
• Children and Families Act 2014, Section 49 (personal budgets) (opens in a new tab)
• SEND Code of Practice: 0 to 25 years (opens in a new tab)

This page provides general information about EOTAS funding in England. It is not legal or financial advice and does not decide what will be funded in an individual case.