Personal budget

We give you your direct payment for you to arrange your care and support yourself, instead of us doing it for you. 

Everyone's needs are different. So there is not a definitive list of what you can and cannot use a direct payment for. 

The money must be spent on meeting the outcomes set out in your care plan. 

Examples of what direct payments can be used for include:

• employing personal assistants
• purchasing services from an agency or community micro-enterprise
• support to get out and about, to see friends or family
• short breaks or replacement care
• community activities, joining local groups, staying healthy, hobbies, following interests
• paying for transport and travel costs, if this is included in your support plan

Examples of what direct payments cannot be used for:

• healthcare that the NHS should fund, such as registered nursing care at home
• long-term residential care
• gambling, debts or anything illegal
• everyday living costs that should be met by the person, such as bills or rent
• employing family members living in the same house as you (except in exceptional circumstances arranged in advance)

You can choose to receive direct payments by either a:

• prepaid card
• bank account used specifically for the direct payment
• nominated account with People Plus, who can manage the budget on your behalf

Direct payment support provider

If you’d like support managing direct payments, you can use a support provider to help with things like:

• managing your care money
• dealing with employment issues
• paying your staff
• getting information about direct payments
• support to recruit and manage personal assistants
• getting advice about what you need to do as an employer

How prepaid cards work

A prepaid card works like a debit card. We’ll load money directly onto the card. If you need to contribute money towards your care, you will need to add it to this card too.

Your responsibilities

If you receive direct payments, you must:

• have a plan for how you’ll spend the money to meet your needs in line with your support plan
• let us know of changes you need to make to the plan
• look after the money carefully and keep good financial records
• send in monitoring information as agreed and take part in reviews
• be a good employer and make sure your arrangements are in line with employment law and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) rules
• give us any money back that is not needed (this is often called surplus funds)
• not spend the money on illegal things