What are direct payments?
From 1 April 1997 the council has been able to offer some people cash instead of arranging community care services, such as home care or day care, for them. When the council gives someone money in this way, it is known as a direct payment.
People who get this money must use it to arrange services to meet their community care needs themselves. It is not extra income and they cannot spend it as they choose.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of direct payments?
People can decide how their needs are met, by whom and at what time. If they use direct payments, they can combine them with other services and funds to tailor services to their individual needs.
Direct payments carry with them responsibilities. Users of the payments must manage their care and the funds, with help if necessary. If a direct payment user employs their own staff to act as ‘personal assistants’, they will have the tasks of recruiting suitable staff and ensuring they fulfil the legal requirements of responsible employers. Some people are able to successfully manage these tasks but others may find them too difficult, even with help.
Who can be given direct payments?
To receive a payment people must be:
- a disabled person aged 16 or older
- the carer of a disabled adult
- the parent/carer (person with parental responsibility) of a disabled child up to 18 years old
- assessed as needing services
- able and willing to manage the payment, either alone or with help.
Finally, everyone who wants to arrange their own care using direct payments must sign an agreement to follow the council’s regulations about their use.
How much are direct payments, how are they made and on what can they be spent?
The amount of money that can be paid to people is linked to:
- the amount of care it is agreed the council will provide for them each week
- hourly payment rates that are set by the council.
Direct payments are paid to people every four weeks. They go directly into a separate bank account that must be set up especially for the payments. The money must be spent to buy the care that the council has agreed to fund following a community care assessment.
Direct payments can be used to employ staff to meet the user’s care needs or to buy care from sources such as private care agencies. They can’t be used to buy services from the council.
Direct payments are not for buying any other goods or services. They cannot be used for ordinary daily living expenses such as food. We carry out regular checks t to ensure the payments are managed properly. The council can stop the payments if they are mismanaged or misused.
What help can I get help to manage direct payments?
Direct payments users can get help in arranging and managing their care from appropriate relatives or friends. Penderels Trust provides independent advice and support to direct payments users in North Lincolnshire. Penderels Trust is available to talk to people considering having their services arranged through direct payments. They can also help with practical tasks such as staff recruitment and payroll services.
Will they affect my benefit entitlement or the tax I have to pay?
Direct payments do not affect the benefit entitlement or tax position of people who receive them. This is because direct payments do not form any part of their ordinary income. They are separate funds to buy the care services the council has assessed them as needing.
Will I have to pay anything towards my care?
All adults receiving community care services are assessed to contribute towards the cost of their care. The amount payable depends on income and the type of service they receive. If you have to contribute, the amount of your contribution will be deducted from your payment.
Who can I employ using direct payments?
Users of direct payments decide for themselves who they employ to assist them with their care, providing they are eligible to work. They can use direct payments towards the cost of recruiting a live-in carer.
Self assessment of care needs
The council is responsible for assessing people’s social care needs. This helps determine the level of help they need. It is important for the council to have good information about each person’s care needs. Tasks that are unimportant to some people may be essential to others. For example, it may be essential for some people to have help to access college.
A good way of getting information on each person’s needs is to ask them to do a self assessment of the tasks they need help with, when they need that help and the amount of time it takes to help them.
For more information, download the self-assessment form:
How can I get more information?
By contacting Social Services or Penderels Trust.
More information is available in the council’s ‘User’s Guide to Direct Payments’:
Further detailed information is available in ‘Everything you need to know about getting and using direct payments’. This publication is available free to people with disabilities from:
The National Centre for Independent Living
250 Kennington Lane
London
SE11 5RD.
Tel: 020 7587 1663
Fax: 020 7582 2469
Minicom: 020 7587 1177.
Other useful sources of information are listed in that publication.
For further information you can contact:
Adult Social Care Services:
- Older People’s Service (65 and older): 01724 297979 Fax: 01724 298056
- Physical Disability Service (18 to 64): 01724 298000 Fax: 01724 298034 Minicom: 01724 298035
- Learning Disability Service: 01724 298222 Fax: 01724 298209 Minicom: 01724 298035
- Community Mental Health Service: 01724 275959
344 Ashby Road, Scunthorpe, DN16 2RS
Independent help, advice and support:
- Penderels Trust Tel: 01724 297979
Note: The above documents are in Portable Document Format (PDF) and therefore require a suitable reader to view them. A reader can be downloaded free from the Adobe website (full instructions for downloading the reader are provided on the site).