About Direct Payments

If you have been assessed as needing support under the Care Act, a Direct Payment is an option to give you greater control and more options over the resources that are used to meet those needs.  It basically involves you taking control of the money for your services. 

You can use that money to choose and buy the services you need yourself, instead of having the Council arrange them for you. 
 
Direct Payments offer several advantages for people who need care and support services, such as:

• You choose who supports you
• You have the opportunity to employ someone you already know well
• You decide the hours that they work and what they do for you
• You are in control of the arrangements and can change them at any time

The opportunity to have people who you already know well providing your care and support can be one of the special benefits of a direct payment.
 
We recommend for everyone who needs care and support in the community to think about whether direct payments would suit them best.   
 
Direct payments will not affect your benefits and they are not taxable.
 
 

Who can use direct payments

Anyone who has been assessed by a care manager as needing community care, has a right to opt for direct payments, though there are a few restrictions: 

• You must be willing and able to manage the paperwork and responsibilities involved (with someone helping if necessary). 

Carers can get direct payments if they have been assessed as needing services in their own right.  A carer for someone who doesn’t have the mental capacity to manage their own direct payment may be able to manage their direct payment on their behalf.
 

What direct payments can be used for

You can only use this payment in line with your agreed care and support plan.
 
Examples of services which people often use direct payments for include:

• Employing someone to help you, such as a personal assistant
• Paying for care services from an agency
• Using an agency to employ someone for you
• Paying to attend a day care service
• Paying for some respite care services
• Buying equipment to help you 

You are not able to use your direct payment to pay for:

• Permanent care in a residential or nursing care home
• Ordinary household expenses such as utility bills, rent or mortgage payments or food
• Anything that does not contribute to meeting your needs or achieving the outcomes that you have agreed in your care and support plan
• Employing a close family member who lives with you, unless the council has agreed this.

 

Help managing direct payments

Once your assessment is completed by a Social Worker or Care Manager, a referral will be sent to our Direct Payment Team, and a Direct Payment Advisor will guide you through the direct payment process.  
 
Some people worry that employing people would mean a lot of form-filling and dealing with bureaucracy.  But you don't have to do all of that yourself. 
 
There are organisations which can do most of the work for you, and you can pay for their services from your direct payment. 
 
Most people find it easiest to use a payroll company to manage the details of payments to their personal assistants (PAs).
 
If you don't already have people in mind who you want to pay to support you, our direct payments team can help you with advertising and interviewing. They can also help with employment queries and with training for your personal assistants.
 

If you change your mind about direct payments

You can ask at any time to stop receiving direct payments and change to services arranged by us. If your needs are complex, we will need some notice to sort this out. 
 
To find out more, talk to your care manager, or contact the Direct Payments Team.  
 

Contact the Direct Payments Team 

• Phone: (01670) 629090 / 629094 
• Email: directpayments@northumberland.gov.uk 

 

Further information about Direct Payments

Please click here to go to the Information Sheet section of our website which includes two Information Sheets about Direct Payments.