If you're eligible for support from adult social care, we’ll work with you to agree a personal budget. This is the amount of money the council can contribute towards meeting your care and support needs.
You can choose how this budget is used and how involved you want to be in arranging your care.
Your options for managing the budget
You can manage your personal budget in three ways:
Council-managed
We arrange and pay for your care services directly. This is sometimes called a managed budget. We’ll use trusted providers and commission care that meets your assessed needs.
Learn how we commission care services
Direct payment
We pay the money to you, so you can arrange your own care. This gives you more choice and flexibility, for example, you could employ a personal assistant or buy support from a provider you choose. This doesn’t apply if you live in 24 hour residential or nursing care.
Individual Service Fund
A trusted service provider holds your budget and works with you to plan your care. They’ll arrange support that meets your needs, based on your choices without you having to manage the money directly.
Combining options
You can combine both approaches by letting us arrange some services for you and use direct payments for others.
We’ll help you plan
A social care worker will support you to plan how best to use your personal budget. This is called support planning, and it’s specific to you and your situation.
If your care is funded by the NHS
Some people’s care is paid for by the NHS rather than the council. This is known as NHS Continuing Healthcare. In these cases, you may be offered a personal health budget instead.