Self-Directed Support in Scotland and people with mental
health problems
The Scottish Parliament has passed a new law on social care
support, the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act
2013.
The Act gives people a range of options for how their social care is
delivered, beyond just direct payments, empowering people to
decide how much on-going control and responsibility they want
over their own support arrangements.
Getting There is one of the capacity building projects which is
supporting the implementation of SDS in Scotland. The project is
supporting smaller voluntary organisations which deliver services
and are led by the people who use those services.
User-led providers are clear that this opportunity must be equally
available to people with mental health problems.
To support this, Outside the Box has commissioned the National
Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) to bring together existing
evidence and practice on Self-Directed Support for people with
mental health problems.
This work will:
 Highlight the difference that Self-Directed Support can and
does make for people with mental health problems
 Provide practical examples of how Self-Directed Support for
people with mental health problems has worked
 Highlight what needs to be in place to ensure this happens.
The work will be shared with all people with an interest in ensuring
that people with mental health problems have the same
opportunity to benefit from Self-Directed Support. This includes
(but isn’t limited to):
 Groups led by people with mental health problems,
particularly those developing an understanding of SDS
 User-led service providers and independent support services
 Staff in local authorities, particularly those with responsibility
in ensuring people with mental health problems can equally
access SDS.
 Staff in CHCPs and other services which provide care and
support to people who have mental health problems.
The work is arranged in 3 parts:
1. Part 1 will look at what information exists on ensuring SelfDirected Support works for people with a mental health
problem.
2. Part 2 will engage with local stakeholders to find out their
experiences and perspectives on what needs to be in place
for people with mental health problems when it comes to
Self-Directed Support.
3. Part 3 will be the promotion of the findings of this work, in
ways that will be straightforward to use for both people with
mental health problems themselves and in people’s day-today work.
We are aiming to complete the work by September 2013.
For more information about this work, please contact either:
 Rich Watts (Mental Health Programme Lead at the National
Development Team for Inclusion) on 01225 789135 or
rich.watts@ndti.org.uk
 Anne Connor (Chief Executive of Outside the Box) on 0141
419 0451 or anne@otbds.org