Receiving Direct Payments

Direct Payments schedule change from November 2023

In November 2023 the Adults Health and Care department will implement a new electronic recording system. 

The new recording system can:

• manage the payment of Direct Payments
• calculate the financial contribution that is required per week

Future payment dates

At present Direct Payments are paid in advance on the last working day of the month. The amount currently received is based on the number of calendar days in the month.

As a result of the change to the new social care system, Direct Payments will be paid in advance on a 4-weekly basis.

This means that the payment date will change to every 4 weeks and there will be 13 identical payments in a year instead of the current 12 which vary in amount.

The payment dates will be:

• 8 December 2023
• 5 January 2024
• 2 February 2024
• 1 March 2024

Interim changes

In order to move to the new payment arrangement, there will be some interim changes the payment dates.

You will receive your last calendar monthly payment on 31st October 2023 which will be for the month of November 2023.

You will then receive a payment on 30 November for the period of 1 to 10 December 2023.

You will then receive a payment on 8th December 2023 for the period of 11th December 2023 to 7th January 2024 Following this you will then receive 4-weekly payments for the periods as shown in the table below. These will be in your account on the Friday before the period starts.

Direct Payment amounts will not change

You will still receive the same amount of money annually, however payments will change to 13 payments over the year

Your contributions are not affected

Your contribution will not change unless your financial circumstances have changed. You must continue to pay your contribution into your Direct Payment account weekly or 4-weekly the same as you have always done.

If you have any concerns regarding your ability to afford your financial contribution, please contact your key worker directly or Adults’ Health and Care on 0300 555 1386 (Option 1 for Finance).

Remittance Advice Slip

You will continue to receive a Remittance Advice Slip.

We believe this change will be an advantage to you

We believe this change will be an advantage to you because:

• You will receive the same amount of money every 4 weeks which should be easier than the current payment method which pays you a different amount each month depending on how many days are in the month
• You will receive the same amount of money in a year as the previous payment schedule. Instead of receiving 12 payments that vary, you will receive 13 identical payments
• You will continue to receive payment in advance, changing from monthly to 4-weekly payments, this should not affect your ability to pay your care agency/personal assistant

Our email newsletter

You may be aware we have an e-newsletter with service users to ensure that we are able to provide you with up to date, useful and topical information about Direct Payments.

The newsletter is sent out automatically by email to anyone who has signed up to receive it, and you can opt out from receiving it at any time. It is distributed quarterly, but if there is anything more pressing, we will issue a special newsletter.

Sign up to receive the Direct Payments newsletter.

The next newsletter is due to be sent out in December.