How direct payments work factsheet

This factsheet explains how direct payments work, helping you determine if they are the right choice for you.

Assessment of need and your care and support plan

Plymouth City Council is responsible for carrying out an assessment of your care needs. A care manager or social worker will contact you to discuss the things that are important to you, the things you are finding difficult to do, and what you would like to achieve. They will talk about your needs and decide if your needs are eligible for social care funding under the Care Act 2014.

How much is the direct payment, and who contributes what?

Once the assessment of needs has been done, Plymouth City Council will calculate the amount of money you need to meet these needs. This amount is called your Personal Budget. You can decide whether you would like a commissioned service; this is where the council arranges your care for you with an agency and pays the agency directly. There is no flexibility with this option; you are told when the carer will be with you and for how long; the days and hours are fixed, and a new contract would need to be arranged for each change you require; or a direct payment to arrange your care to cover your assessed needs yourself. This option is more flexible, and you are able to change your agency, days visited or move times around within your personal budget to meet your assessed needs.

A direct payment is made up of an assessed amount that you pay (this is referred to as your personal contribution or assessed contribution), together with an amount that the Plymouth City Council contributes. The contribution is not affected by the amount of care you have; it is affected only by your finances.

The contribution is the first portion of any care costs, and the Plymouth City Council adds their portion to your account weekly.

For example, if your weekly budget is £100 per week and you are assessed to contribute £60 per week,. You must pay £60 per week into your direct payment account, and the Council will pay £40 per week into the account. You will receive a remittance advice weekly that will show £100 (personal budget) minus £60 (assessed contribution) and a payment of £40 to your account.

If you do not pay your contribution into your direct payment account, you will not have sufficient funds to cover your care costs.

How your contribution is worked out

You will be asked to submit information to the Plymouth City Council's Client Financial Services Team in order for them to carry out the financial assessment. Once this has been calculated, you will receive a letter from them to confirm the amount you need to contribute and from what date the contribution will need to be paid.

You must pay your contribution into your direct payment account to ensure that there is always sufficient in the account to cover your care costs. Your assessed contribution is the first portion of any care costs.

How your direct payment is paid to you

In Plymouth, direct payments are paid via a prepaid card account. You will receive a card (just like a debit card), which is attached to a bank account; you can either manage this online or via telephone banking. There are different kinds of prepaid card accounts depending on your needs:

a card in your name
3^rd party card
virtual prepaid card

Your care manager will explain these options to you during the assessment process.

Plymouth City Council deposits their portion of your Personal Budget into this account on a weekly basis and your assessed contribution must be paid into this account weekly (the easiest way to do this is to set up a Standing Order from your personal bank account.) Our Support Service can assist with this if required.

What is the prepaid card account used for?

All invoices and agreed care costs must be paid from the prepaid card account, and the funds cannot be transferred to your personal account or to someone else's account under any circumstances. If you are unsure about this, you should discuss it with your care manager or our Support Service.

What can direct payments be used for?

The direct payment can only be used to achieve what was agreed in your care and support plan.

Is there anything direct payments cannot be used for?

Direct payments cannot be used for the following things:

Anything that is illegal
Ongoing residential or nursing care (respite care is allowed if agreed in your Support Plan)
Gambling
Repaying debts (including mortgages, fuel arrears or loans)
Financial investments
Household bills, for example rent, gas, electricity or water
Day to day food bills, cigarettes or alcohol
Payments to close relatives living in the same household (unless agreed by the council in very exceptional circumstances)
Personal shopping

This list is not exhaustive.

Personal assistants

A personal assistant is a person you choose to employ to help meet your assessed care needs. This could be a person you already know, such as a friend or neighbour, or you could choose to recruit a personal assistant.

For more information, please read the employing a personal assistant factsheet.

Buying care from a care agency

Care agencies are businesses that employ staff who have had an Enhanced DBS Check, and are trained to provide care and support to people living in their own homes.

You can find care agencies in Plymouth by looking on the Plymouth Online Directory.

How the spend is monitored on your account

It is your responsibility to make sure you spend your direct payment appropriately and lawfully. Plymouth City Council will monitor your account from time to time in order to ensure that it is being managed appropriately. The council has full view of the prepaid card account, so they can see payments made into and out of the account; this simplifies things for you, ensuring that you do not have to send in all monitoring information annually.

Excess funds in your account

As part of monitoring, Plymouth City Council may write to you requesting a refund of excess funds in your account. This is to ensure that your account balance is within reasonable levels and to ensure that any unused funds are returned to the council's Social Care Budget to assist others in need.

Temporary care and support arrangements

If you have temporary alternative ways of meeting care needs that mean you don't have to use the direct payment, please let the council know so that they can adjust the payment. They will need to know if you are away from home or admitted to the hospital for more than a month.

Reviews

Plymouth City Council should review your care and support needs at least once a year. They will contact you to arrange a convenient date. If your needs have changed (up or down) following the review, they will agree to a new support plan with you, and the value of the direct payment may change. If you refuse to take part in a review, your direct payment could be cancelled and other arrangements made to meet your care and support needs.

Support Service

The Direct Payment Support Service is operated by Enham Trust, and they can assist you with advice on all aspects of managing your support as well as employment issues, hiring, firing, etc. Find out more about Enham Trust.

Who can help me?

Plymouth City Council contracts the Enham Trust to provide a local support service and can help with advertising and recruiting staff.

Additional factsheets

Plymouth City Council has produced the following four factsheets:

More information

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