Personal Budgets within Norfolk Social Services
January 09
Guidance for use by:
 People interested in getting their support through a Personal
Budget
 Care Managers/Co-ordinators/relevant management staff
 Support Planners/Brokers
This guidance contains all the information you will need to plan and
set up a Personal budget:
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What are the beliefs and values that underpin Personal
Budget?
What are Personal Budgets?
Who is eligible to get a Personal Budget?
Who can set up a Personal Budget?
Will you have to make a Financial Contribution?
How to get started.
What if I need help with my support plan?
What needs to be in the support plan?
Forms included:
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Keeping Yourself Safe
Action Plan
What are the beliefs and values that underpin Personal Budgets?
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The individual is at the centre of this process and should be
involved as much as they choose and/or as far as they are able.
The individual should be encouraged and supported to make their
own choices and decisions.
The individual’s involvement should be recorded and reflected in
their support plan.
Where an individual does not have the capacity to make their own
decisions, those acting on the individual’s behalf should ensure
that any decisions made will cause minimal restriction to the
person’s freedom and rights.
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What are Personal Budgets?
 A Personal Budget is an allocation of resources to meet your social
care needs over the year to come. This can be taken as cash or
as services.
 You can use the budget in ways that suit you. There aren't too
many rules. You can be ‘in control’.
 You can write your own support plan with help if your require, that
shows how you think your Personal Budget should be spent.
Who is eligible to receive a Personal Budget?
You must meet the county council eligibility criteria for social care. If you
require any further information on this please speak to your care
manager/co-ordinator
Our goal is to make Personal Budgets available to everyone needing
support from our service over the next few years. However, this is a very
big task and therefore will have a gradual introduction.
For the time being, we intend to concentrate on:
 Young people moving to adult services (except Mental Health)
Priority will be given to:
o young people who want to plan for their support after they
leave school or college.
o Anyone who has or is likely to need very large, complex and
expensive support
 People who are in Adult Mental Services wishing to leave or at risk
of needing residential care.
 Older people who have not previously had a service (except Blue
Badge) and who are currently not in a crisis or are about to leave
hospital.
Who can set up a Personal Budget?
All staff who have a care management role can set up a Personal Budget
once the support plan has been authorised.
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Will you have to make a Financial Contribution?
This depends on how much money you have coming in. Everyone
offered a Personal Budget will be assessed to see if they need to
contribute toward the cost of their support. This will be done by our Joint
Team Visitors who will make sure you are receiving all the benefits to
which you are entitled.
A rough guide is that anyone not in or going into residential care on less
than £170 per week will not be expected to make any contribution. If you
have more than £22,500 in savings then you will be asked to pay the full
cost of meeting your support plan. (all figures apply to 2008/9 financial
year). However, there may be elements of your income/capital that will
not necessarily count.
How to get started
1. Both you and your care manager/co-ordinator will complete a
personal budget questionnaire.
2. If you and your care manager/co-ordinator cannot agree on the
answers we will try to resolve the problem. If we can't do that,
someone independent could help.
3. You are told what the estimated budget is and how you can get help
to write your support plan.
4. You will write your own support plan, with as much help as you need.
5. Your care manager/co-ordinator and another manager will agree to
and sign off your support plan.
6. You or your representative (eg family, friend, care manager, broker,
service provider) will organise the support.
7. You and your care manager/co-ordinator will hold reviews as agreed
in the support plan.
What if I need help with my support plan?
You can do your support plan yourself or ask anyone else you would like
to help you: Such as:
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Friends and family
Independent Living Norfolk (telephone no: 01508 491222)
Your care manager/co-ordinator/assistant practitioner
Anyone else able and willing to help, eg broker, service provider
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What needs to be in Your Support Plan?
There is no set format - you can write your support plan in any way you
choose. But your care manager/co-ordinator must make sure the plan
answers the eight questions below:
Question
1. Who is
writing this
plan?
2. What is
important to
you?
What this means
What care
managers/coordinators will
look for
You can create your
own plan with as
much help as you
need.
If you are not able
to make all the
decisions yourself,
the plan should
show the
Circles of Support or decisions that you
Trusts are a good way will be making and
to make plans if you
those taken by
find it hard to do it
others.
yourself.
If you can't speak
However it's done, the or don't use
support plan should
words, the plan
show how you will
should show how
have as much control you communicate
as possible over your and whether you
life.
need equipment
to help you
What are your likes,
dislikes, interests,
talents, important
relationships?
3. What is
How will you build on
working in your or improve the things
life?
that are already
working in your life
What is not
working so
What changes do you
well?
want to make in your
life
Your plan will
only be agreed if
You have made
the decisions or
been helped and
involved as much
as you can be.
For the few
people who are
not able to make
decisions it must
be very clear why
this was not
possible, and
show evidence
that they have
been involved as
much as possible.
A sense of what is It shows a clear
important to you, picture of you as
any experiences
an Individual.
or relationships
that are important
to you.
The changes can
be long or shortterm changes.
It shows how your
life and wellbeing
will be maintained
or improved.
If your are making
long term
changes, it might
be helpful to break
it down into
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Question
What this means
What care
managers/coordinators will
look for
Your plan will
only be agreed if
achievable steps.
4. What are
you hoping to
achieve using
your Personal
Budget?
Using the
What you want to
Questionnaire you can do is realistic and
think about how you
achievable.
can use your budget
to meet the needs that
you have identified.
What you want to
achieve relates to
your answers in
the Questionnaire.
What are your
intended goals
/outcomes?
5. How will I
keep myself
safe?
As well as thinking
about what you want
to do to make your life
better you will need to
think about the likely
possibilities for things
not working out as you
had planned.
See ‘Keeping Myself
Safe’ Form.
6. What is the
Personal
Budget to be
used for?
You must describe
each area of
expenditure with
costs. It is a good idea
to have a reserve for
unexpected costs/
emergencies.
Please use the
summary support plan
at the back of this
document to show
how you wish to
spend your money.
A completed
'Keeping Myself
Safe' form.
The plan will only
be agreed if the
‘Keeping Myself
Safe’ form
The plan should
identifies likely
show the action to risks and shows
be taken if your
how these can be
needs or situation realistically
changes and who minimised to a
will take that
level considered
action.
reasonable by
your care
manager/coordinator.
The plan should
say exactly how
you wish to use
your money.
Expected costs
are shown, and if
the costs are not
more that the
amount that has
been agreed.
Every thing in
the plan is legal!
Feel free to be
imaginative and
creative and keep it
legal.
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Question
7.How will you
receive and
manage your
Personal
Budget?
How will you
put your plan
into action?
What this means
What care
managers/coordinators will
look for
You can have your
Personal Budget as
money paid straight to
you or to someone
you trust to manage
the money on your
behalf, such as a
family member or
Independent Living
Norfolk or a Service
Provider
The plan makes it
clear who is
responsible for
organising each
area of
expenditure.
If you are going to
employ people it
must say how you
are going to sort
out their wages,
You can ask your care Tax and National
manager/co-ordinator Insurance e.g. do
to buy a service on
it yourself or ask
your behalf.
ILN to help.
Your plan will
only be agreed if
It shows who is
responsible for
when and how
you need your
money to be paid.
There is a
summary support
plan.
Your plan must
tell us where to
send the money,
how much and
when!
You can have a
combination of all of
the above.
How the money is
to be paid: ie
monthly
instalments (eg
You need to make it
staff costs),
clear what you will
quarterly, lump
arrange yourself and sums (for one off
what you will ask other spends etc)
people to do on your
behalf.
8. How will you How often you want to Your plan can be
review your
do this and who
reviewed as often
plan?
should be involved in as needed.
this?
There should be a
How will you decide
first review within
how much progress
3 months.
you have made
You will need a
towards the
review after 10
goals/outcomes you
months to make
are hoping to
plans for the next
achieve?
year. You may
then need to do a
questionnaire
again to see if
your needs have
changed.
It is specific about
what you want to
happen and how
you will make any
changes to the
plan over the
year.
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Keeping Yourself Safe
Life is full of risks. We all understand this.
Your support plan is about how this is managed. You will need to work out what
could go wrong and what can be done about it. You and your care manager/coordinator to will need to agree a level of risk that is acceptable to both of you.
Some things to think about:
 Who would you speak to if you were being abused in any way?
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Could any planned activities perhaps result in an increased risk for you?
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Are you sure that you will be able to spend your Personal Budget as agreed in the
support plan?
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Are there any signs to show you or other people that things might be going
wrong?
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Who will you contact if you are worried that things might be going wrong?
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Does the support plan include employing anyone? Have you had advice from
Independent Living Norfolk?
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What if the unexpected happens, for example your personal assistant or main
carer becomes ill?
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How much money do you feel comfortable managing in one go?
Have you had a copy of the leaflet ‘Protecting Vulnerable Adults’?
What could go wrong?
What can be done about it?
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What could go wrong?
What can be done about it
Personal Budget Recipient:
Dated:
_____________
Care Manager/Co-ordinator
Dated:
_____________
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How will you put your plan into action?
The last part of your support plan should draw together all the things that need to be
done, who will do them and when they will be done. This will help make sure things
happen as they should. Whatever you decide, we will need to know what
arrangements you want to make to receive your money. This can be regular
payments or one off payments or a combination.
Suggested things to also think about:
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Do you need to open up a separate bank account?
Do you need help to buy goods or arrange a service?
Have you taken into account any oncosts if you are employing someone
What needs to
happen?
Who will do it?
When/how often?
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SUMMARY SUPPORT PLAN
Please complete this form for our records
Personal Budget Allocated:
Item
Estimated
cost
Who will receive
the payments
(yourself, agent,
Trust, ILN
provider)?
How often?
(monthly,
quarterly, one
off-date needed
if known)
Personal Assistant
Support:
Social and
Educational
Activities:
Short Breaks:
Longer term
registered care:
Supported Living:
One off purchases
(over £50):
Transport:
Miscellaneous:
Contingency:
Review Date: ___________
Authorisation (budget holder) Name:_______________________
Signature: _________________________________________
Date: _________________
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