Personal budgets

What is a personal budget?

A personal budget is the amount of money that has been agreed by the council as available to meet your eligible care or support needs following a Care Act assessment.

What can I use a personal budget for?

You can use a personal budget in a variety of ways but what you use it for must be related to meeting your eligible unmet needs and outcomes to maximise your well being.

How can personal budgets be managed?

There are various ways you can choose to use and manage your personal budget, including:

• a direct payment, this is when you arrange and manage your care and support yourself, download the direct payment fact sheet
• you arrange your own care but ask the council to buy it for you
• the council arranges the care and buys it for you, but you and the provider agree how and when the care and support is provided
• the council arranges and manages all the care for you
• in addition a group of service users can agree to jointly use their personal budgets to buy care and support together by any of the above methods.

How can I find the care or support I need?

Visit the Live Well Telford website to find community services that meet your needs

What happens if I want to use a more expensive option?

If you want to use an option that costs more than your personal budget (where there are options available within budget), you (or a third party if you are choosing a care home) will need to pay the extra cost.

What happens if my needs change?

Your Care Act assessment will be reviewed regularly. Your personal budget allocation and support plan will be changed as your needs change.

How will we know how you have spent your personal budget?

Your needs will be reviewed regularly by us to make sure that you are achieving the goals or outcomes that you identified in your support plan.

Will I have to contribute financially?

Depending on your income and savings, you may have to make a financial contribution to your social care support.

We will carry out a financial assessment before your personal budget is worked out, to let you know the maximum you will have to pay. View more information about financial assessments.

Last updated: 24/05/2022 08:54