Archived decisions

DIRECT PAYMENTS REVIEW

In 1981, Hampshire County Council worked with service users to develop a system of direct payments to enable disabled people to live more independently by giving those that use the system more flexibility and control over their lives. The County Council was the first authority to do this and gained national recognition for demonstrating innovative thinking and valuing independent living. To ensure that the Direct Payments scheme still meets the needs of its users and of the County Council as the operator of the scheme, a review was commissioned in January 2007.

The aim of the review was to ensure that the Direct Payments scheme is simple for users to set up and use, balanced with appropriate levels of control. A 14 week consultation exercise on the options for change was launched in July 2007 inviting the views of current service users, service users not using direct payments, people who may need services in the future, County Council staff, direct payments support agencies, users representative groups and providers. The consultation took the form of surveys, public meetings and web forums, staff briefings and road shows and individual interviews. It resulted in over 400 people sharing their views on self assessment, risk assessment and outcome based planning.

The findings from the review and the consultation resulted in a number of key recommendations for updating the Hampshire Direct Payments scheme, which were considered and agreed by the Cabinet on 25 February 2008. The following changes will therefore be made to the scheme:

· A self assessment questionnaire - potential users will be able to carry out a self assessment of their finances and needs to work out the benefit direct payments may give them. This will also prepare them for their professional assessment, which will still take place.

· A support assessment tool - this will enable the care manager to assess and offer the right level of support to people choosing to take a direct payment. This will improve consistency in how much assistance service users are offered to manage their direct payments.

· A risk assessment tool - a risk assessment of what support users need to use direct payments will now take place and will enable people to manage their money more effectively. This support could include an accountancy service and payroll service.

· A move towards outcome based care planning - care plans will be outcome based, as will reviews and monitoring and will enable an individual to choose what care they want and how they receive it.

As well as making the Direct Payments scheme easier to use and offer more flexibility, the changes detailed above represent an important step towards delivering the Government's personalised care agenda (see separate report).