Code: RT14
If you are assessed by your local authority social services department as needing services, you are entitled to be offered direct payments - money that is paid directly to you to enable you to buy the services you need. Deafblind people can use direct payments to pay for any service that could be provided by social services, including communicator-guide services. Parents of deafblind children can pay for intervenor services for their children. Direct payments can also be spent on things such as equipment, interpreter costs and taxi fares.
However, you do not have to agree to accept direct payments, and before deciding to go down this route, it is worth looking into whether they are the best way of getting the services you need. Your social services department should tell you what service they would provide if you do not want direct payments.
Direct payments can be an excellent means of getting the help you need at the time that is most convenient to you. However, specialist staff such as communicator-guides and intervenors used by deafblind people can be hard to find, and direct payments do not do anything to help deafblind people or the parents of deafblind children to find suitable people to work with them.
If you have identified services that you wish to purchase, then direct payments could be a very good way of getting these services in a way that suits you. However, if you are not sure exactly what services you would be able to purchase locally, you may like to ask your social services department for help identifying suitable providers.
Any disabled person who wants direct payments is entitled to be offered them, even if they need help in managing their affairs. There is no upper limit on hourly rates for direct payments, so if you think the rate you are being offered is not sufficient to buy the service you need, don’t hesitate to say so.
If you decide to accept direct payments and subsequently decide that they are not the best way of getting the services you need, you can stop them at any time and opt to receive a service provided or commissioned by your local authority.
The six checklists that follow are designed to help you think through the issues associated with direct payments. They are structured as follows:
A: Using direct payments to employ staff
B: Using direct payments to purchase services from freelance staff
C: Using an agency
D: Direct payments for purposes other than staff time
E: Using direct payments to buy services for your child
F: Direct payments for people who need help to manage them
Ultimately, you are the only person who can decide if direct payments are right for you, but we hope that the information here will make it easier for you to make the right decision for you or your child.
Sources of further information
Direct Payments: Guidance published by the Department of Health
Department of Health
PO Box 777
London
SE1 6XH
dh@prolog.uk.com
www.dh.gov.uk
Everything you need to know about getting and using direct payments
National Centre for Independent Living
250 Kennington Lane
London
SE11 5RD
Tel 020 7587 1663
Fax 020 7582 2469
Text 020 7587 1177
ncil@ncil.org.uk
www.ncil.org.uk
Checklist A: Using direct payments to employ staff
Do you want to become an employer?
If you employ staff to provide services, you are responsible for matters such as tax and National Insurance, and for making sure that employment laws are observed. If you are thinking about employing staff directly, your local Centre for Independent Living will be able to offer you much more detailed advice than is given here. Visit www.ncil.org.uk or telephone 0207 587 1663 (voice) or 0207 587 1177 (text) for more information. If you do not wish to become an employer, it is possible to use direct payments to employ freelance (self-employed) staff, or book services through an agency.
Is there a payroll service that you can use if you want?
Many users of direct payments find it helpful to use a specialised payroll service, which will take on responsibility for paying wages, tax and National Insurance, based on information supplied by you, for a small fee. For details of payroll services in your area, ask your local council.
Can your local authority arrange Criminal Records Bureau checks for people you employ?
You may want to check that people you employ do not have a criminal record. Individual users of direct payments who employ social care staff cannot themselves apply for Criminal Records Bureau checks, but your local authority should be able to help you obtain a check in respect of prospective staff. In some areas, local voluntary organisations or Direct Payments Support Schemes offer this service.
Does the rate being offered take account of recruitment costs, any necessary insurance and Criminal Records Bureau checks?
The rate you are offered needs to reflect the real cost of the service, and take account of all the costs of buying the service you need. This can include recruitment costs such as advertising, employer’s liability insurance and public liability insurance if necessary. Don’t forget to allow for the cost of recruiting further employees if your staff should leave.
Is the hourly rate you are being offered adequate for you to pay your staff at the appropriate rate?
Government guidance on direct payments says that the hourly rate should be sufficient to enable people to have choice over who they wish to provide their care. This means that your payments should be enough for you to pay for suitably trained and qualified support workers, even if their hourly rate is higher than the rate offered by your local authority to other users of direct payments.
Are you happy to make regular (usually monthly or quarterly) returns to your local authority stating how you have spent the money?
People receiving direct payments must account for the money they spend, for example by providing copies of timesheets. This information must be in a format that is acceptable to the social services department. Typically, users of direct payments make monthly or quarterly returns.
Can you have a description of the services that your local authority will provide or commission if you decide not to accept direct payments?
If your local authority is not able to identify a suitable service, there is no guarantee that you will be able to find one either. The legislation is very clear that direct payments can only be made with the consent of the person involved, and that if people do not wish to have direct payments, the council should provide or commission a service instead.
Checklist B: Using direct payments to purchase services from freelance staff
Direct payments can be used to buy services from people who are freelance (self-employed). This means that you do not have the responsibility of becoming an employer, but can buy services from someone of your choice and receive these at a time to suit you.
Are the services you need available to purchase in your area?
If there are no suitably qualified and trained freelance support workers in your area, you may not be able to find someone suitable to provide the services you need. You may like to ask your local authority for a description of the services they will provide or commission if you decide not to accept direct payments.
If you need to buy services from outside your immediate area, does the rate you are being offered allow for travel costs?
If the only way you can get a suitable service is by paying someone to travel from outside the area, you should be offered direct payments at a rate that enables you to reimburse their travel costs if necessary.
Is the hourly rate you are being offered adequate for you to purchase the specialist services you need?
Government guidance on direct payments says that the hourly rate should be sufficient to enable people to have choice over who they wish to provide their care. This means that your payments should be enough for you to pay for suitably trained and qualified support workers, even if their hourly rate pay is higher than the rate offered by your local authority to other users of direct payments.
Are you happy to make regular (usually monthly or quarterly) returns to your local authority stating how you have spent the money?
People receiving direct payments must account for the money they spend, for example by providing copies of invoices or receipts. This information must be in a format that is acceptable to the social services department. Typically, users of direct payments make monthly or quarterly returns.
Does your freelance member of staff have an Individual Tax Reference from the Inland Revenue, together with appropriate liability insurance?
If you are using freelance staff, you should check that they are genuinely self-employed to avoid any possible challenge from the Inland Revenue.
Can your local authority arrange Criminal Records Bureau checks for people you employ to provide services?
You may want to check that people you employ do not have a criminal record. Individual users of direct payments cannot themselves apply for Criminal Records Bureau checks, but your local authority should be able to help you obtain a check in respect of prospective staff. In some areas, local voluntary organisations or Direct Payments Support Schemes offer this service.
Will the council pay for Criminal Records Bureau checks?
The rate you are offered should take account of all the costs associated with buying the services you need.
Can you have a description of the services that your local authority will provide or commission if you decide not to accept direct payments?
If your local authority is not able to identify a suitable service, there is no guarantee that you will be able to find one either. The legislation is very clear that direct payments can only be made with the consent of the person involved, and that if people do not wish to have direct payments, the council should provide or commission a service instead.
Checklist C: Using an agency
Direct payments can be used to book staff through an agency. Agencies take on the responsibility for paying staff and ensuring that tax and National Insurance contributions are made.
Is there an agency that operates in your area and can supply the services that you need?
If there are no suitably qualified and trained freelance support workers in your area, you may not be able to find someone suitable to provide the services you need. You may like to ask your local authority for a description of the services they will provide or commission if you decide not to accept direct payments.
If the agency will be sending people from outside your immediate area, does the rate you are being offered allow for travel costs?
If the only way you can get a suitable service is for the agency to hire someone from outside the area, you should be offered direct payments at a rate that enables you to reimburse their travel costs.
Is the hourly rate you are being offered adequate for you to purchase the services you need?
Government guidance on direct payments says that the hourly rate should be sufficient to enable people to have choice over who they wish to provide their care. This means that your payments should be enough for you to pay for suitably trained and qualified support workers, even if their hourly rate pay is higher than the rate offered by your local authority to other users of direct payments.
Does the rate you are being offered take account of agency fees?
The rate you are offered should take account of all the costs associated with buying the services you need.
Are you happy to make regular (usually monthly or quarterly) returns to your local authority stating how you have spent the money?
People receiving direct payments must account for the money they spend, for example by providing copies of invoices or receipts. This information must be in a format that is acceptable to the social services department.
Does the agency arrange Criminal Records Bureau checks for people they provide?
Domiciliary care agencies are required under the Care Standards Act 2000 to obtain Criminal Records Bureau checks. You may wish to check that the agency you are using is registered.
Can you have a description of the services that your local authority will provide or commission if you decide not to accept direct payments?
If your local authority is not able to identify a suitable service, there is no guarantee that you will be able to find one either. The legislation is very clear that direct payments can only be made with the consent of the person involved, and that if people do not wish to have direct payments, the council should provide or commission a service instead.
Checklist D: Direct payments for purposes other than staff time
Direct payments can be a very good way of getting services such as taxis or equipment.
You can also use direct payments towards the cost of equipment that is more expensive than your local authority will fund. For example, you might want a pager with a wider range of functions than the model your council would provide for you. If you chose, you could receive direct payments equal to the value of the pager your council would have provided, and use your own money to top this up and buy a model with additional functions or accessories.
However, direct payments must be spent on the services you are assessed as needing. You cannot spend the money on anything else.
Are you happy to make returns to your local authority stating how you have spent the money?
People receiving direct payments must account for the money they spend, for example by providing copies of receipts. This information must be in a format that is acceptable to the social services department. Typically, users of direct payments make monthly or quarterly returns.
Is the rate you are being offered adequate for you to purchase the services you need?
Government guidance on direct payments says that the rate should be sufficient to enable people to have choice over their services.
Do you know what service or equipment you need?
You should receive an assessment from your social services department of what services or equipment you need. If you are unclear, you should ask for a written description of these services.
Checklist E: Using direct payments to buy services for your child
If you are using direct payments to buy services for your child, the same principles apply as if you were buying them for yourself. However, there is one very important difference: Criminal Records Bureau checks.
Have you asked your local authority to arrange CRB checks for anyone you employ to provide services to your child?
If you are employing someone to provide services to a child under 16 or to a disabled 16 or 17 year old and you ask your local authority to obtain a Criminal Records Bureau check, they must do this. Sense recommends that you ask for check in respect of any staff providing services to children. If you contract an organisation such as Sense to provide services to your child, for example intervenor services, the organisation has a duty under the Government’s national care standards to ensure that any staff supplied have had a CRB check.
Checklist F: Direct payments for people who need help to manage them
Again, all the same principles apply as if you were buying services for yourself. But it is important to make sure that appropriate support is in place.
Is appropriate support in place to help you or someone you care for to manage direct payments?
Direct payments can be made to people over the age of 18 who need support to make use of them, and the Department of Health guidance makes it clear that there is no limit on the amount of support that can be given as long as the person receiving the direct payments is able to indicate preferences. If a deafblind person needs support to manage their direct payments, the individual providing that support must ensure that a separate bank account (if necessary a trustee account), is used to administer the payments. The social services department must be able to satisfy themselves that the money is being used for the benefit of the deafblind person, and in a way with which they are happy.
