Direct payments
If you have been assessed which has shown you are eligible for support with your care needs, you could choose to manage this with a Direct Payment.
A Direct Payment means you will receive an agreed amount of money to arrange the support that you need instead of the Council arranging this for you. This gives you more choice and control over the way you arrange your day to day help.
There are two ways to manage a Direct Payment. Either employing your own care worker (known as a Personal Assistant or PA) and paying them yourself or paying an agency to provide someone. Your social worker or care co-ordinator will give you advice about this.
You can choose who will help you and decide when and how they will do things for you but you must only spend your Direct Payment on meeting your eligible needs, as agreed and recorded in your support plan. This could be someone you know, who understands your needs, who speaks your language, or shares your interests.
Direct payments can be used to pay for anything that has been agreed in your support plan.
This could include:
- support from a care agency of your choice
- employing a Personal Assistant (PA) to help with personal care
- support with daily living activities
- short-term breaks away from home or respite care
Specifically, you cannot spend your Direct Payment on:
- anything that is illegal
- alcohol, tobacco, drugs or gambling (including bingo)
- long-term or permanent residential care
- to pay a close relative who lives with you as your PA, except in exceptional circumstances
Employing someone privately
- to employ a PA you advertise for, interview and choose someone who suits you
- you are also responsible for the administrative and legal responsibilities including managing your PA's pay and arranging the appropriate insurance before they start working for you
- your social worker will be able to explain this in full. They can also provide you with some further information to help you understand this process.
For information about finding a PA please see the Livewell website.
You will need to have a dedicated bank account to manage your Direct Payments and must send us invoices or receipts and bank statements every quarter so that we can see that the Direct Payment is being managed properly.
Paying an agency to provide someone
- you will pay an agency who will find you a PA, pay their wages, tax and national insurance
- you will have less choice about your PA as you will not be able to interview them
- the agency may not be able to provide the same person each time
- employing someone through an agency also costs more