Support from your local council The way councils provide services to eligible adults and their carers is called personalisation. This term is used to describe several ways in which eligible adults can receive a mixture of local authority and government money to pay for the care services
they need without direct council involvement. If you approach your local council for social care support, your needs and finances will be assessed. If you have a carer, they can be involved and have their needs assessed too.
Your assessment If you appear to have care or support needs, you have the legal right to an assessment of your care needs and finances. Councils are statutorily obliged to provide this to you, regardless of whether you access their services. The assessment (which is free) will consider: • how you can best be supported to live as independently as possible; • your home and how you are coping in it; • your emotional wellbeing; • your diet; and • any health and medical treatments you need.
You will need to contact Adult Social Care to arrange an assessment. Call 01296 383204 in Buckinghamshire, or 01908 253772 in Milton Keynes. Once Adult Social Care understands your care and financial needs, the next stage is to determine what services you may be eligible for and who will pay for them. Your local council will give you more information on eligibility and the national eligibility criteria it uses at the time of your assessment. Information on paying for care can be found on page 19 if you are receiving home care and page 43 if you are moving into a care home.
Personal Budgets If you are eligible for support from your local council, you may be given a Personal Budget. A Personal Budget is the amount of money that councils calculate it will cost to meet the support needs of eligible people. If you are eligible for a Personal Budget, the actual amount your local council will contribute will depend on your eligible needs and your finances. The money should be spent in line with a support plan that has been agreed by both you and your local council and can be either a full or a partial contribution to such costs. You may also choose to pay for additional support on top of the budget. Any eventual contractual agreement for services is between you and your care provider, not your local council.
your Personal Budget, it may be taken: • in the form of a Direct (cash) Payment, held directly by you or, where you lack capacity, by a ‘suitable person’; • by way of an account held and managed by your local council in line with your wishes; or • as a mixture of the above. Direct Payments can only be used to pay for the care and support agreed in your care and support plan.
If you are eligible for a council contribution towards Visit www.carechoices.co.uk for further assistance with your search for care
11
