Managing your personal budget

If you either have:

• A disability and are already receiving help from social services
• Just had a care assessment, and you are eligible for help

You are likely to have been offered the choice of using a personal budget to pay for your care and support.

A personal budget gives you options as to how your needs are met and funded. It also gives you the support you need to make an informed choice. Its aim is to give you more control, and to ensure that the services you get meet your needs and wishes.

There are three ways to manage your Personal Budget.

Direct payments

This is where the money is paid directly into your bank account. You need to open a separate bank account solely for your personal budget.

You will need to keep a record of what you have spent your money on and provide bank statements and receipts to us when requested. Your care manager might also ask for this information. This is to ensure your personal budget is being used as agreed in the support plan.

If you have trouble managing your personal budget, you can ask someone else to be your representative. This could be a family member or a friend. They can also help if you have difficulty understanding your support plan.

A representative can manage your personal budget or support plan for you. They can do this while giving you as much control as you would like. You may want your representative to open a personal budget bank account. You might also want them to be responsible for keeping records of costs to send to us. They can also help you to manage your support by making any arrangements for you.

If you want to receive your personal budget by direct payment, it is important that you read and sign the Direct Payment Agreement. 

You should also know that any client contributions will be deducted before the payment is made into your bank account.

Have your budget managed by us

The council can manage your personal budget for you. We can arrange support on your behalf from the services we provide or non-council services that we have a contract with. You may choose this option if you are happy with a service you are already receiving and would like it to continue. You may choose for the council to manage your budget if you do not feel able to manage it independently, even with the help of a representative.

If you would like the council to manage your personal budget, then we will invoice you for any client contribution.

Mixed budget

Your personal budget can be managed by a mixture of the two options above. You could choose for the council to continue to arrange some services for you and have the rest of your personal budget as a direct payment.

For example, you might continue to attend a day service once a week, which we could continue to manage. You could then receive a direct payment to pay for a personal assistant, to visit each week to help you with your care needs.

If you choose this option, then your client contribution will be deducted from the amount of the direct payment that is paid into your bank account.

If you would like advice on how to manage your budget, then contact your care manager for further details.

Further help

For further help, contact adult social care.