I have a disabled carer who needs to know what she can use her direct payments for in respect of buying herself care or being accompanied by a carer to social events. Does anyone know of a resource for a list of accepted uses or have any detail of where a person has been allowed to use their DP's and what for. I am particularly interested in where they have been used to assist social interactivity.

I'm a bit confused re your post...is the person (your client) the carer who is paid a direct payment by a service user?...or is your client the service user who has been allocated a DP and wants to know how s/he can spend it.

if the latter, then the purpose of the DP should be outlined in the care plan drawn up by Social Services...However, care plans can be vague and/or flexible (depending on your view) or (sometimes) non-existent!!

Basically, if your client has identified community care needs which include the need for access to social activities etc, then my view would be that it is perfectly reasonable to use the DP in this way.

It can be a difficult one, though, as Local Authorities can often have a type of "fixed" DP amount (ie hours x rate) which they award to a person without really explaining what the DPs should be used for. In essence, the assessment of needs shows a particular set of needs (if your lucky) and the council awards an amount of hours which is meant to reflect those needs.

If in doubt, the point of enquiry on such issues as to how payments should be allocated would be the social worker.

A need for social interactivity is often just as FACS sensitive (and eligible) as a need for (for eg) someone to dress you/feed you etc. However, in my experience these aspects of need are often subsumed or ignored in assessments when other, more "obvious" eligible needs are present. This can make the allocation of care complicated, and may in fact show that the assessment has been undertaken incorrectly, or incompletely. When this happens, the DP award may be increased to account for the additional needs.

However, the reviewing of assessments and care plans can be a difficult and dangerous exercise (eg...Mrs X no longer has that level of need/therefore needs less services)...if this route is the route to take, your client should see a community care adviser.

Hope this helps

Regards

The platform for community care services was initially provided by section 2 of The Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970, pursuant to The National Assistance Act 1948.

Subsequent legislation, The National health Service and Community Care Act 1990, The Direct Payments Act 1996 and The Health and Social Care Act 2001, for example have built on this in order to support policies of social inclusion.

Services are very broad, see below. I knew a blind guy in the late 1990’s for whom one LA paid for him to go on holiday. I also heard of one LA (somewhere in the midlands, I think) that, instead of providing service users with set community meals, gave them vouchers for local pizza parlours/take outs, etc.

But, as already mentioned, the care plan will be the starting point in any individual case.

Section 2 of the CS&DP Act is in the following terms:

Provision of welfare services.
2— (1) Where a local authority having functions under section 29 of the National Assistance Act 1948 are satisfied in the case of any person to whom that section applies who is ordinarily resident in their area that it is necessary in order to meet the needs of that person for that authority to make arrangements for all or any of the following matters, namely—
(a) the provision of practical assistance for that person in his home;
(b) the provision for that person of, or assistance to that person in obtaining, wireless, television, library or similar recreational facilities;
(c) the provision for that person of lectures, games, outings or other recreational facilities outside his home or assistance to that person in taking advantage of educational facilities available to him;
(d) the provision for that person of facilities for, or assistance in, travelling to and from his home for the purpose of participating in any services provided under arrangements made by the authority under the said section 29 or, with the approval of the authority, in any services provided otherwise than as aforesaid which are similar to services which could be provided under such arrangements;
(e) the provision for that person of facilities for, or assistance in, travelling to and from his home for the purpose of participating in any services provided under arrangements made by the authority under the said section 29 or, with the approval of the authority, in any services provided otherwise than as aforesaid which are similar to services which could be provided under such arrangements;
(f) facilitating the taking of holidays by that person, whether at holiday homes or otherwise and whether provided under arrangements made by the authority or otherwise;
(g) facilitating the taking of holidays by that person, whether at holiday homes or otherwise and whether provided under arrangements made by the authority or otherwise;
(h) the provision for that person of, or assistance to that person in obtaining, a telephone and any special equipment necessary to enable him to use a telephone,

Sorry for my appalling editing. Subsections 1(e) and (g) should read:

(e) the provision of assistance for that person in arranging for the carrying out of any works of adaptation in his home or the provision of any additional facilities designed to secure his greater safety, comfort or convenience;

(g) the provision of meals for that person whether in his home or elsewhere;

This is really odd. I've not had a query on Direct Payments in years and then had two in two days this week.

Our local authority produces a Customer Guide to Personal Budgets which is available on the northamptonshire.gov.uk website. With regard to how direct payments may be used it states:

A Personal Budget means you can spend the money how you wish to make the changes identified in your support plan.

For example you can spend your money on:
A personal assistant or support worker
Buying services from an agency or organisation
Paying expenses for unpaid helpers
Holidays. Instead of respite care you might want to pay for a supported holiday
Buy equipment to help you be more independent
For example a computer to help keep you in touch
Enroll on an adult learning class
Pay for vets bill or expenses for a support dog or pet
Buy gym membership/join a sports club
One off payments that you might need for deposits, purchases etc.
Transport
Equipment to keep you safe like a personal call system, smoke
detectors, fall detectors or mobile phone
Make adaptations to your home
You can also give ‘legal rewards’ to people who may help you out. This could mean doing something for them in return, buying a meal or treat them etc.

The things that you cannot spend your money on are:
Things that do not improve your life
Support agencies that are not registered as domiciliary care agencies with the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) if you need personal care
Illegal activities
Gambling
Employing someone who could place you at risk of harm.

It will all come down to the specific needs that have been assessed by the local authority - so you will need to see the assessment/care plan.

A direct payment can only be used to buy services that will meet her assessed needs. So long as social services have assessed that there is a need for support to access social activities then there should be no problem in using a direct payment in this way. However if you use a direct payment to buy a service that the local authority has not assessed you as needing, you run the risk that they will ask you to repay the monies.

Essentially and in general, Derek S is right, and seems to echo my own posting...the Legal basis for DPs has been succinctly detailed by Paul.

but beware (and the reason I went on a bit, earlier)....

an assessed need is no longer sufficient to place a duty on the Local Authority to meet that need or arrange for that need to be met...

since the onset of Fairer Access to Care Services criteria (FACS), a Local Authority (usually via it's social services dept) may very well "identify" a whole number of needs in an individual's assessment...however, unless those needs are determined as FACS eligible (ie they meet the category, or banding of need agreed by the individual authority as warranting service provision) then they will not be "eligible" needs and a grey area will emerge as to whether any provision (including Direct Payments) can be used to meet that need, or those needs.

Many LAs only provide services in the "substantial" or "critical" bands under FACS, others also allow services if "moderate" needs are identified. Very few provide services for "low" category needs.

Equally confusing can be a situation where a person has umpteen needs in varying areas of care, some of which are determined as "low" and others "critical" etc...in these circs it would only be legitimate to use the DPs for the "eligible" needs (and what is eligible, as above, varies from Authority to Authority)...that is why it is the CARE PLAN which often details those needs deemed eligible, what level of eligibility and therefore what services can be obtained.

For example, a person may be deemed to have a "critical need" for personal care in maintaining personal hygeine, or similar, but a "low" need in social interaction. This might be right, or it may be wrong and challengeable.

The assessment (in this sense) is not the yardstick document/record (indeed an assessment may not be recorded at all in some cases).

An assessment is the process by which a care plan is developed, and - of course - a challenge to the assessment may very well lead to changes (increases/decreases) in care provision. You really need to see:-

a) the care plan - to answer whether a particular need attracts a service, when and how etc

and

b) the assessment - to see if the care plan realistically (and accurately/fairly under FACS) reflects the true needs

So, if a Care Plan is unclear on the issue of social interaction, then the care plan should likely be reviewed on that basis to include such a need. This will normally be via some sort of re-assessment process.

However, as I have previously stated, you should tread carefully...the lack of identification of a particular need in an assessment or plan (eg, as here social interaction) may not mean that it is unidentified, merely "ineligible" under FACS (that need being deemed "low" for example) whereas other needs may be identified as "substantial" etc.

Peter