Eligibility for services

There is a national eligibility threshold for social care which consists of three criteria, all of which must be met.

Eligibility and assessment

The eligibility threshold is based on:

• whether your needs are due to a physical or mental impairment or illness
• to what extent your needs affect your ability to achieve, such as maintaining personal hygiene
• whether and to what extent this impacts on your wellbeing

As part of the assessment, the Council will talk with you about what is important to you and whether your wellbeing is affected.

After the assessment, a decision will be made about whether you are eligible for care and support. This decision will be explained to you. If you have needs and want the local authority's help to meet them, this will also be discussed with you.

Next steps

If you are eligible for social care support, your social worker or social care assessor will refer you to the Council Client Finance department for a financial assessment, to understand whether you will need to contribute towards some or all of the cost of the support. This will depend on your income and any savings you may have.

If your level of need means you are not eligible for support from the Council, it will offer free advice and information and put you in touch with other organisations and services in your community that may be able to help you.