Individual Budgets

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Individual Budgets
Judith Whittam Individual Budgets Core Team
MemberCare Services Improvement Partnership
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Context

• In response to consultation
• Commitment to pilot individual budgets in
• Improving the Life Chances of Disabled People
• Opportunity Age
• Independence, Well-being and Choice
• White Paper - Our Health, Our Care, Our Say.
• The pilot project is a joint programme between
  the Department of Health, the Department for Work
  and Pensions (Office for Disability Issues) and
  the Office for Communities and Local Government
• To give people more control over the services and
  support they get

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Why?

• Rarely does a quality of life simply happen, it
  takes a conscious decision to stand fast, step up
  and make it a must

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About the Pilot Programme

• 13 Local Authorities
• Run for between 18 months and 2 years
• National Evaluation
• Supported by core team from CSIP

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Where are the pilots?

• West Sussex County Council
• Lincolnshire County Council
• Leicester City Council
• Essex County Council
• Norfolk County Council
• Barnsley Metropolitan Borough
• Council
• Coventry City Council
• Bath and North East Somerset
• Council
• Kensington and Chelsea Borough
• Council
• London Borough of Barking and
• Dagenham Council
• Gateshead Council
• Oldham Metropolitan Borough
• Council
• Manchester City Council

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What is an individual budgets?

• A person-centred assessment, looking at a
  persons whole needs as well as risks to
  independence
• A transparent allocation of resources, including
  income streams other than social care services to
  provide a full range of support.
• Independent Living Fund (ILF)
• Supporting People
• Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG)
• ICES Community Equipment
• Access to Work
• Community Care funding

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Individual budget cont.

• A person-centred planning process, allowing the
  individual to decide how best to spend their
  budget with external support or advocacy if
  required. (Support Planning and
  Brokerage)Flexibility in how the budget can be
  spent, allowing need to be met in a creative way
  that best uses available resources. Monitoring
  arrangements that are proportionate.

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Individual Budget Process
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Individual budgets are intended to-

• Allocate resources transparently, giving
  individuals a clear cash or notional sum for them
  to use on their care or support package
• Streamline the assessment process across
  agencies, meaning less time spent giving
  information
• Bring together a variety of streams of support
  and/or funding, from more than one agency.

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Cont.

• Give individuals the ability to use the budget in
  a way that best suits their own particular
  requirementsAllow support from a broker or
  advocate, family or friends, as the individual
  desiresBe delivered within local authorities
  existing resource envelope
• Allow a mix and match approach

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Individual Budgets are not

• Replacement for Direct PaymentsJust for people
  with Learning DifficultiesFor people to become
  employersA form of rationingFor a few

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Issues

• The inclusion of a number of income streams -each
  one with its own legislative or organisational
  barriers.
• Effect on the social care workforce, which may
  have to change to respond to the new roles
• Effect of increased choice for the individual on
  the market for social care services
• Transfer of a certain amount of risk to the
  individual (as outlined in Independence,
  Well-being and Choice) and away from local
  authorities

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Quote

• People make life style choices, not risk
  choices

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Progress

• First Individual Budgets
• Site Work RAS, Support Planning and Brokerage,
• Streamlining policies E.g. charging
• Start of Evaluation site implementation
  interviews

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Next steps

• Evaluation of Pilot Project
• Does the individual budgets approach deliver
  benefits for
• people who use services?
• Can it be delivered within existing resources?
• Exploration of the addition of further funding
  streams
• E.g. Education, Transport
• Roll out across England by 2010

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Old Chinese proverb

• People who say it can not be done should not get
  in the way of those doing it!

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• Further Informationwww.individualbudgtes.csip.or
  g.ukwww.in-control.org.uk
• Judith.whittam_at_csip.org.uk