What It Means For You
You get money from your local authority to manage your own support, called a ‘Direct Payment’. This lets you choose a personal assistant, buy services from a care provider, get equipment, or even take short breaks. You’re the boss when it comes to hiring your personal assistant(s) and deciding their schedule.
Things To Keep In Mind
A Direct Payment gives you lots of flexibility with how you spend your budget, but you’ll need to get approval on how you plan to spend it during your assessment. Your spending should directly help with your assessed needs and goals. You’ll also need a separate bank account for payments and do some paperwork every few months, but you can get help with this if you prefer. The local authority keep an eye on things to make sure everything’s going smoothly, and if you don’t spend everything, you might need to give some back.
Ensure the person you’re helping has capacity to make their own decisions. If not, you might need a guardianship order to be able to make decisions for them.
Support Thats There For You
The Community Brokerage Network will help you through your assessment and planning your support. If you’re hiring personal assistants, payroll and employment services like Ailn (Ayrshire Independent Living Network) or PIP (Partners in Personalisation) can help with managing your budget and sorting out any questions about hiring staff, all without any extra cost.
SDS Payroll Management
SDS Payroll Management Services offered by Ailn and PIP
We do not get involved when it comes to recruiting and managing personal assistants or other staff. There are other organisations who specialise in this area.
Ailn and PIP offer tailored SDS Payroll Management Services that are accessible, helpful, and straightforward. They understand the unique needs of individuals managing their own care and adjust their services accordingly.
Their services have a charge, but your SDS personal budget includes funding to cover this cost if needed. As not-for-profit organisations, Ailn and PIP reinvest profits back into their services for continuous improvement and added benefits.
Usual Link and FAQS
If someone finds it difficult to understand and make decisions for themselves, they may need someone in their life who is legally responsible for helping them make decisions, or even to make decisions for them. This is particularly important when it comes to decisions about their health, social care support, and finances. If you would like to take a Direct Payment for a loved one who is unable to manage this and make decisions on their own, you will need to apply for guardianship to enable you to do this.
A personal assistant (PA) works directly with one or more disabled people, to support them with various aspects of their daily life so that they can live it in a way they choose. Find out more about the role of a Personal Assistant
Being a PA Employer allows people to choose who delivers their support. People can decide when they want support, what they need people to do and how flexible they need people to be. Whilst this gives a great deal of choice, control and flexibility over support, this comes with certain responsibilities.
Becoming a PA employer involves considering a significant amount of information. This can feel overwhelming, especially if people have several other commitments. It may not be as difficult a task as first anticipated though.
It is possible to employ a family member as a Personal Assistant (PA) to provide care and support. However, this is still seen as an ‘exceptional circumstance’, which means it would not normally happen unless it is for specific reasons.
It is important for anyone considering taking on a PA to understand the difference in employment status between an employee and a self-employed PA. This can affect the legal relationship and financial agreements between them. For this reason, not all local authorities will fund the use of self-employed PA’s. Find out more about how to determine if a PA is employed or self-employed.
For further information and reading on the pros and cons of selecting an Option 1, please refer to The SDS Handbook using the link below.
Your care plan is usually reviewed once a year. However, if your needs change before your scheduled review, you can contact your social worker or care manager for an earlier review. This way, you can discuss any changes in your needs and your preferences for how your care is provided. If you need help with this, your broker can support you through the process. Feel free to reach out to us anytime.
