We have seen a lot of major changes in the way Social Care work and Local Authorities have now moved away from what was Direct Payments to Personal Budgets. This move to Personal Budgets means that disabled people are being given more control over how to meet their social care needs than ever before.

One of these changes includes the way you can access support to help you with all of the things Disability Direct have been providing expert advice on. In the past the Local Authority would pay Disability Direct to provide free support to disabled people. Now the Local Authority will be paying you directly and you can then spend this money on getting the support that you need.

We are here to provide you with all the support you need to write your support plans, access funds, find and employ Personal Assistants, find suitable services, help manage your Personal Budget and much more.

Day to day, we help people with Support Planning and exploring ideas, helping people To complete their monitoring forms for Social Services, all aspects of managing a Personal Budget including: The Recruitment of PA’s, Employers Risks and Responsibilities, Helping settle Employer/Employee disputes and much much more!

A PB is money received from the council after an assessment for you to spend on the support you need to ensure you live independently. You can use it to buy from any provider of services and not just those endorsed by the council. Or you can use it to purchase aids and equipment that will help you to live independently but for this it will need to be approved in your Support Plan.

To receive a Personal Budget you will need to have an assessment from Social Services to find out if you qualify for help. You may already have a Care Manager or Social Worker who can help you through the process or you can speak to us here at Disability Direct.

It’s your choice!

Either the council can pay:

  • You – directly into your bank account
  • A “Trust” – A group of people you trust who have agreed to help you manage and spend your budget on a day-to-day basis.
  • 3rd Party – An external agency such as DD Payroll Services will hold your budget for you and wait for your instruction on who to pay for the social care service you receive or any other payments for things such as mileage or aids and equipment that have been agreed you can purchase.
  • An Individual Service Fund – You can choose to have your budget paid directly to your provider. Speak to your Care Manager or give us a ring a Disability Direct for more information on this.
  • A virtual budget – Derby City Council will make the payments on your behalf to day centres, agencies etc. You will not be able to employ your own PA if they take control of the funds.

This is a written plan listing what is important to you and how you will use your Indicative Budget to meet your social care needs. When writing your plan, you will be in control at all times. You can involve your family, friends, in fact anyone in helping you to put your plan together. Disability Direct can help too.

Give us a ring and we will talk you through the next steps. We will of course make sure you are in control at all times.

An indicative budget gives a rough idea of the level of funding that will be allocated to an individual, in their Personal Budget, to meet their eligible needs. It is based on what it would cost to meet their needs, as determined by the Resource Allocation System (RAS).

The indicative budget allows individuals to create a Support Plan that will deliver the outcomes to best meet their identified assessed needs.

The indicative budget is used only as a guide. A final Personal Budget amount may be set higher or lower than this amount, depending on how a support plan shows the person’s needs can be met.

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CONTACT THE TEAM

CONTACT THE TEAM

Raj Johal
Blue Sky Brokers
Email : raj.johal@blueskybrokers.org
General Email : info@blueskybrokers.org

Tel : 01332 404040 option 3