Direct payments

Direct payments are made to allow people to organise and buy their own social care services.

If you have eligible social care needs, you can choose how to receive your care and support. A social work professional will assess your eligible social care needs and determine your 'personal budget'. This is the amount of money that we set aside to pay for your care and support.

If you are eligible and choose to use your personal budget to arrange your own care and support, we call this a 'direct payment'. The money in your personal budget will be paid to you or, a suitable person acting on your behalf, as a direct payment, into a dedicated bank account or through a direct payment prepayment card, to help you make more decisions about how it is spent.

You will be financially assessed to determine any contribution you make towards your care and this amount will be deducted from the Direct Payment before it is paid to you.

Having a direct payment means you can have greater control over the support you receive to meet your care needs. You can make important choices about your care and have greater choice compared to the services we can provide.

Please note that direct payments are not seen as income and have no effect on tax or your benefits.