Signposting - Benefits money grants - Personal budgets

Personal budgets

Personal Budgets are a way in which a person can have more control in the way they receive their care. People who receive a Personal Budget can choose whether to have services arrange their care, they can arrange the care themselves often by using a Direct Payment, or they can choose a bit of both. Direct Payments are cash payments made to people who have decided to organise their own care. Personal Budgets can help people to live independently in their own home, within the community.

By receiving a Personal Budget, a person can have more choice and control on how their care is delivered, who helps them with their care, and when and how this is done.

Following an assessment, the Personal Budget amount is agreed upon and a person then does what is called a support plan in order to show how they intend to use it to meet the outcomes they want in their lives.

The [SEND Code of Practice] states that: ‘Young people and parents of children who have EHC plans have the right to request a personal budget, which may contain elements of education, social care and health funding.’ In Wiltshire, EHC Plans are called My Plans.

Where a Social Care assessment identifies areas of need, and where these needs require the provision of a service, families have the option to receive a ‘Direct Payment’ from the local authority in order to secure the ‘provision of the service’. The ‘Direct Payment’ should be calculated at a ‘rate as the authority estimates to be equivalent to the reasonable cost of securing the provision of the service concerned.’ [(Health and Social Care Act 2001)]

Personal Health Budgets

Children and young people with assessed areas of needs under the [National Framework for Children and Young People’s Continuing Care] have the right to a Personal Health Budget, relating to the elements of ‘Continuing Care’ support that would normally be provided by the NHS. The National Framework describes ‘Continuing Care’ packages as support for children and young people with ‘needs arising from disability, accident or illness that cannot be met by existing universal or specialist services alone.’

There is more information about Personal Budgets and Direct Payments in our related Articles sections. Wiltshire CIL also have information about Personal Budgets, Direct Payments and the support they can give families with to manage them and support planning. [Click here] for further information.

Quick reference guide

You can download and print the quick reference below, along with an Easy Read user guide, from our user guide article.