Your Rights

Direct Payments Toolkit

Summary: Your guide to getting and managing direct payments for social care support.

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Direct payments are intended to give you freedom to organise support services for yourself. But you must use your direct payments to meet the needs that have been identified in your care assessment.

Local councils must offer you cash payments, called ‘direct payments’, if you are in one of the following groups:

• a disabled adult aged 16 or over
• a parent responsible for a disabled child
• a carer aged 16 or over

and all of the following apply:

• you have been assessed as needing community care services
• you consent to receive direct payments
• you are able to manage cash payments, alone or with some support.

Your council will carry out a financial assessment to check if you should contribute towards the cost.

You can also get information about:

• employing helpers
• helpful organisations
• what to do if things go wrong
• the future of direct payments.

You can download a direct payments checklist (Word) and sample letters to your council (Word).

Find out about what getting direct payments meant for Sue.

Ask your council for information about their direct payments scheme – they should provide this in a format which suits you. They may also give you a copy of the Government leaflet A guide to receiving direct payments from your local council.

RNIB Social Care Advocacy Service can give you information about your rights to services and specialist support. If you have any enquiries about social care services or would like to request any of our information in large print or other formats, please contact the RNIB Helpline on helpline@rnib.org.uk or 0845 766 9999 or 020 7388 2525. (Some callers may find it cheaper to call a landline, so we have detailed both 08 prefixed numbers and landline equivalents where available.)

Content author: helpline@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 08/04/2008 18:38