Assessing needs and paying for care

Your assessment will help us work out how much support you may require, based on your individual needs. We may estimate what it might cost the Council to support you; this is called an ‘indicative amount’ and is a starting point for calculating what your Personal Budget will be. This is the amount the Council will contribute to your care and support.

We will also consider cost-effectiveness in providing support. This means that the right amount of support is provided without costing more than it needs to. The cost of different potential options will be a relevant factor in deciding between options to meet someone’s care and support needs. Alternative options to Local Authority funded care will be considered in the first instance. For example, family or friends who are willing to provide care will be approached, equipment may be provided, or community services considered.

Where the local authority is responsible for providing services to meet care and support needs, a personal budget will be calculated. This is enough to enable support to be arranged to meet a person’s assessed needs in the most cost-effective way. A person’s personal budget will not usually be increased above this amount. However, people can choose to purchase more care or use a more expensive alternative if they are able to fund the additional cost.

Your care and support plan will also include all advice, information, signposting, money and services that the Council will be providing to you. All of this information will be written down in your Care and Support Plan and you will have a copy of this. This information may need to be shared with people or agencies involved in your support with your permission but we will talk to you about this at the time.

We will ask you if you would like our help to arrange your support or if you would like to do this yourself. There are a number of choices:

• You could have the Personal Budget paid to you so that you can arrange your own support. This means you can choose who helps you at the times you prefer and in a way that suits you.
• When your Personal Budget is paid to you this is called a Direct Payment. If you need support to manage a Direct Payment you can have someone to do this for you or with you. 
• We could arrange your support for you. Even when the Council sets up and pays your support for you using your Personal Budget, you will still be given choice about the best ways to support you with your needs
• You could have the Personal Budget paid to a third party so that they can arrange your support on your behalf. This means you can choose who helps you at the times you prefer and in a way that suits you. When your Personal Budget is paid to a third party, this can be called an Individual Service Fund or a managed account.
• You can have some of the money paid to you as a Direct Payment for you to organise some of your support and ask the Council to set up the rest of your support.

Will I have to pay towards my support?

We will work out how much you may have to contribute to the cost of your support. We will carry out a financial assessment to work out if you will need to pay anything towards your care and how much that might be. At this stage we will only be able to give you an estimate of what the Council might pay and what you might pay but it will help to start planning your care and support.

What happens when I am receiving support?

Once your support is in place, we will check back with you after 6 to 8 weeks to make sure that everything is working effectively for you. Your care and support plan will then be reviewed on a yearly basis to make sure that the plan is still right for you. If you think your needs have changed, you can call us at any time to request a review. If you disagree with any part of the process, you should discuss this first with your assessor. You can also make a complaint via our Adult Social Care complaints process.