Personal budgets and direct payments

Decide if you want us to manage any money we’ve agreed to allocate for your care, or if you want to manage it yourself.

About your personal budget

Your personal budget is the amount of money we agree to pay towards your care, if you have eligible care needs and we’ve agreed a care plan with you.

It’s based on your financial assessment, which shows us how much you can afford to pay. Most people have to pay something towards their care.

If we haven’t looked at your care needs yet, you should request a care needs assessment.

This will tell us if you’re eligible to receive care arranged by the council.

Deciding how to manage your personal budget

There are 3 ways to manage your personal budget. You can choose to:

  • let us arrange your care for you
  • arrange your own care using a prepaid card, called a direct payment
  • a combination of these (mix and match)

Let us arrange your care for you

If you choose this option, we’ll arrange all your care and support based on your agreed care plan.

We’ll send you a bill every 4 weeks for your part of the care costs, unless your financial assessment shows you do not need to pay anything.

Use a direct payment to arrange your own care

If you prefer to arrange your own care, we can pay you directly.

Direct payments give you more choice in arranging the care described in your care plan.

For example, if your care plan says you need a carer to visit you in your home, you can choose to hire a specific care worker who has been recommended to you.

How you’ll receive your direct payment

You’ll receive your direct payment in the form of a prepaid debit card.

Your responsibilities

If you want to receive a direct payment, we’ll ask you to sign a contract with us outlining your responsibilities for:

  • arranging the support or care services
  • making payments
  • keeping track of what's left in your budget
  • showing us how you’re spending your money

Get help to manage direct payments

We can arrange help for you to manage your direct payment. This could be a local organisation that acts as your agent.

You can also ask someone else to manage your direct payment on your behalf, such as a friend or family member.

Checking what you’ve spent

We’ll check what you’ve spent your money on every 3 months. You’ll need to keep all of your receipts and paperwork in a safe place.

Making sure you’re happy

We’ll keep in regular contact with you once we’ve set up your direct payment to make sure everything’s going well.

Arrange your care in a combination of ways (mix and match)

You might prefer to take a combination of approaches to organising your care.

You could ask us to arrange some of the care, and arrange some of it yourself through a direct payment.