Personalisation and Individual Budgets

What does personalisation mean?

People who use services will be able to choose their own care and support
Services can be chosen that haven’t been available traditionally
It is a move away from professionals selecting services for clients from a ‘menu’ of options commissioned by the local authority
Clients can have a cash payment (a direct payment) or services arranged on their behalf using a personal budget or a combination of both

What is direct payment?

Direct payments are means-tested cash payments made to individuals assessed as needing support in place of social services provision.

What is an individual budget?

Unlike direct payments, which only use money from a local authority social care budget, individual budgets combine resources from different funding streams to which a person is entitled:

Local Authority social care
Integrated community equipment services
Disabled Facilities Grants
Supporting people for housing-related support
Access to Work
Independent Living Fund

Individual Budgets are designed to give people choice and control over how they receive their care package. This can be in the form of a direct payment, or services commissioned by the local authority or a broker who manages the budget on an individual’s behalf, or a combination of both. The money can be spent on any product or service that achieves the outcome specified in the care plan. The local authority still retains the primary responsibility for ensuring the appropriate range of support is available.

What is a personal budget?

The term personal budget is often used interchangeably with individual budget. It is the funding given to a service user by a council which should be sufficient to meet their assessed needs. Users can take their personal budget as a direct payment or choose to manage it in different ways, including leaving councils with the responsibility to commission the service. Unlike an individual budget, it does not include funding streams from other sources, just social care.

What is an Individual Service Fund?

Individual Service Funds (ISFs) are at a relatively early stage of development and there is not yet a fully developed model of ISFs.
In outline, it is a monetary management option for personal budget holders who choose not to direct some or all of their support through direct payments. The person asks the council to lodge funds with the provider on their behalf, while retaining choice and control over the support and services provided.
Elements of the budget are used to cover the providers’ care management and support costs (not generally exceeding 15%), with the entire remaining budget restricted for expenditure on the needs of the person for whom it was established.

We at Partners in Specialist Care believe we are well placed to provide you with more personalised and individual care packages since that has been a priority for us throughout our years of care provision. We pride ourselves on being as flexible as possible within the constraints of our clients’ condition and care needs.

If you would like further information, please give us a call on 01429 239616.