Direct payments
When an individual chooses to take a direct payment, the person is paid the gross amount and invoiced for their maximum weekly assessed charge on a four-weekly basis in the same way as for managed services. There are regular reviews of direct payments to ensure money is spent appropriately.
Where direct payments are being made, and the person is not spending the direct payment for the appropriate purpose; the Council will take steps to recover any payments that have been inappropriately used. In these cases, a review of the care assessment and the financial assessment will also be undertaken. Where there is a build-up of money, over the maximum agreed amount, then steps will be taken to recover the excess funds, and a review will be requested to ensure that the same level of care continues to be required.
It may also be the case that an individual chooses to use a provider whose costs are more than the personal budget allows, whilst achieving the same results. Where this is the case, in order to enable the person to exercise choice and control, the Council would agree a reasonable amount from the personal budget toward the service with the individual able to contract with the provider of their choice and make up the difference from their own finances. In these circumstances the additional payments made by the individual would fall outside of this charging process.