Personal budgets

What are personal budgets?

A personal budget is a sum of money that has been allocated to a disabled person, based on their needs. This allows them, or someone acting on their behalf, to choose how to spend that money to meet their needs in a way that suits their lifestyle.

How much do I get?

There is no fixed sum like a benefit. Instead, the amount you get is calculated based on an assessment of your needs. A direct payment will be the sum that relates to your care and support needs, while an individual budget can cover wider things, such as purchasing equipment.

How do I apply?

To apply for a personal budget, you need to contact the Social and Health Care department of your local authority. They will explain the application process and tell you what happens next.

Why have direct payments / self-directed support been introduced?

Direct payments have existed for some time. Many disabled people use them to manage their own support needs. However, the Government is keen to extend choice and control to much wider groups of service users. This will create individual budgets, which will allow anyone with assessed needs to choose how they spend their budget to best suit them.

What can I buy from Scope?

You can purchase a wide range of services from Scope. These include:

• support workers to support you in your own home and deliver personal care
• community support - offering a support worker to accompany you to access facilities in your local community
• overnight support in your own home
• support if you wish someone to accompany you on holiday or residential short breaks in one of our respite units
• a range of adult day services, and support to help you develop independence skills
• residential care in one of our care homes across the country

How do I buy it?

You can contact any of our services found on our website or through local information. Ask what that service can offer you and how much it would cost. If you’re happy with that, you will be given a contract. Then you will get a bill for the service each month.

When can I access services?

Our individual services will tell you when they can start providing the support you’d like. There may be a waiting list for some services.

Who do I speak to?

Contact the service of your choice or call us on 0808 800 3333 for information.

What can I expect from Scope?

You can expect a good-quality service from Scope. We pride ourselves on promoting independence and life choices of disabled people. You can expect to be supported by well-trained staff to meet your individual needs and who will treat you with dignity and respect.

What if things go wrong?

We have a reassuring and professional complaints procedure. We treat all concerns and complaints seriously and will investigate if things go wrong. We aim to learn from our mistakes to make sure our services continually improve.

What are the advantages of personal budgets?

The advantages include:

• being in control of how the money the local authority has identified for you is spent
• being able to choose how your support is provided
• the ability to use your budget flexibly, such as at regular intervals, or particular times
• being able to employ your own support workers if you want to

What are the disadvantages?

Disadvantages may include:

• you may not feel comfortable negotiating for support with direct workers or an agency
• you may not want to employ workers yourself. This can be overcome by asking a broker to do this for you
• you may feel let down if your regular workers are sick or leave

What if I’m not good with money?

You can choose how your personal budget is managed. But if you don’t want to manage it yourself, you can choose someone else to manage it for you. Either way, you can still direct what your budget is spent on.