Direct Payments and Personal Budgets Janette Cunliffe Direct Payments Manager Department of Adult Services, Wigan Department of Adult Services

‘Our Health, Our Care, Our Say’ 2006 “ The Prime Minister’s vision demands that all public service providers, including providers of social care, seek to deliver personalised services that offer true choice, excellence and quality”

‘Putting People First’ Published December Key Features Creating universal information for people needing services and their carers irrespective of their eligibility for public funding Great focus on intervention and prevention Personal Budgets for everyone eligible for public funded adult social care Self Directed Support to become mainstream Engaging with people and encouraging them to be part of community life by seeing how they can influence decisions that affect their life.

Personal Budgets What is a Personal Budget? –The amount of funds the local authority will make available to meet a persons care or support needs following a Self Directed Assessment –The individual takes control of their Personal Budget by arranging their own services or asks that this is administered on their behalf by family, carer, organisation or the Council. ‘ Personal Budgets and self-directed services mobilise the intelligence of thousands of people to get better outcomes for themselves and more value for public money (Making it Personal, DEMOS Report, 2008)

Understanding the terms! Personal Budget – the individual knows how much funding is available to pay for their care. Unless given as a Direct Payment, it remains held by the council as a ‘notional amount’ Direct Payment – the money is given to the individual and they, alone or with support, are responsible for managing and accounting for this money. Individual Budget – now often used interchangeable with Personal Budget but stemmed from a pilot scheme arranged by the Department of Health in which funding streams available for care were pooled.

…and there’s more! –Self Directed Support – the individual has a Personal Budget and designs how it is used. –Self Directed Assessment – involves the person needing support and their family in the Assessment process. It personalises the process and considers the situation as a whole, taking into account the needs carers and others who provide informal support.

Support Plans The individual (with assistance if required) produces a Support Plan. This tells the local authority how you intend to spend the funds to meet your outcomes in the way in which you prefer, putting people who need support and their families in control. Everyone should have the opportunity to have a tailor made package of care. You can arrange all the support you need yourself by asking for a Direct Payment. You can ask your social worker to arrange services on your behalf and direct how the money will be spent, Or have a mixture of the above

Direct Payments People tell us Direct Payments have, Improved the quality of their lives Given them greater independence Increased choice and flexibility The Direct Payments team will give you all the help you need to set up and arrange your direct payment in the way you wish…or you may want to ask family, friends or other professionals to do this for you.

What other help is available with my Direct Payments? Help you to decide how you would like to spend your Direct Payments. Help you to find a suitable agency or employ Personal Assistant Assist in all aspects becoming an employer with a Payroll service and help with Contracts of Employment, Job Descriptions etc. Provide training for your Personal

and finally… “..my dad would have gone into a (residential) home, he wouldn’t have received the care, love and attention that we give him in his own home. The process took 6-8 weeks to set up. It was dealt with professionally and runs smoothly” “Life is 10 times better for both of us now” (comment from a Carer) “