What are direct payments?

Direct payments are sums of money paid by local authorities to people assessed by social services as being in need of services.  

The payments were introduced by government with the intention of giving service users the option of exercising choice and promoting greater independence and flexibility than is sometimes possible where services are arranged directly by local authorities.  

They are paid only if you are willing to accept them; you cannot be forced to do so.

Direct payments can be paid to:

• carers who are 16 or over and caring for someone who is disabled and aged 18 or over and
• parent carers of disabled children.

Local authorities have the power, rather than a duty, to provide services to carers but when making these decisions should not make blanket policies which limit the extent of their discretion.  The emphasis should be on the outcome and the local authority should ensure that the service is appropriate and would produce a cost effective solution. 
     
Direct payments can also be paid to older and disabled people who are 16 or over, ie the people you care for. The following information looks mainly at direct payments from the perspective of carers, but will include information about direct payments for the cared for person, as you may be involved in helping to manage them.

Just as the carer’s assessment is the route to obtaining a direct payment for yourself as a carer, a community care assessment of the person you are looking after will be the key to them obtaining a direct payment to purchase services. The main difference is that once an eligible need has been established the local authority has a duty (not just a power) to meet that need.

The term ‘direct payment’ is also used to refer to the way in which social security benefits and pensions are paid directly into bank accounts. The direct payments referred to below have nothing to do with that and are not part of the social security system.

The following covers the direct payment scheme as it applies in England and Wales. The scheme in Northern Ireland is very similar. Carers in Scotland are not able to get services in their own right and so cannot have direct payments for their own services.

I am a carer - what can I buy with a direct payment?

The key feature of direct payments for carers is their adaptability. Guidance given to local authorities suggests that they can give carers direct payments for any purpose which helps them to sustain their role as a carer and promotes their own health and well being.  

Local authorities are encouraged to be imaginative in thinking about the ways direct payments might be used and carers have been awarded direct payments to pay for:

• taxi fares
• mobile phones
• computers
• gym club membership
• leisure classes
• training courses
• counselling
• driving lessons
• help with housework or gardening

and a host of other purposes. Below are some examples of how direct payments can be used:

Anne is a full time carer for her son who has cerebral palsy and has two other children to look after. She misses the stimulation of her old job and sometimes feels very pessimistic about her future. She spotted a course at her local college which would update her IT skills, making it more likely that she could find work in the future, and was awarded a direct payment to pay for the course fees.

Ben cares full time for his mother who has dementia. Since retiring he has become a passionate photographer but his limited income and savings make it difficult to update the equipment he needs and he stopped attending the photography club he used to enjoy. A direct payment allowed him to buy better equipment and he picked his hobby up again, and benefits from the break it gives him from looking after his mother.