Personalisation

Personalisation Questions and Answers

How have carers been involved in developing systems for personalisation? • In our consultation process during September to December 2009 we talked to a lot of people about how we were going to offer Personal Budgets in Northamptonshire, this included Carers. Also during the evaluation of Personal Budgets we talked to people including Carers Question answered by Sarahlee Richards

What is happening locally about personal budgets for carers? • Last year we ran a pilot offering personal budgets to carers. We are looking at what was learnt from that to decide if and how personal budgets to carers will be offered again. We want to offer the best support to all carers with the money that we have. • In addition I have been recently released on a secondment where I will be considering the issue of Personal Budgets for Carers. Question answered by Sarahlee Richards

Are family carers being asked to do more because of personalisation? • Many family carers want to support their family member with having more choice and control and are happy to assist with support planning and managing a budget. For families that are unable to do this there is help so that they don’t have to take on more work. Question answered by David Watts

What support is in place if there are problems with the personal budget ? • If there is a problem with the sort of help that someone has chosen then their circle of support or care manager can help with this. If there is a problem with managing the money then the Carer Options Team are a good starting point. Question answered by Locality TM

How is family/natural support taken into account when working out the budget? • Family support is taken into account when working out the budget. The idea is to support families to care if they are happy to, not replace all that care with paid support. This is looked at in the SDSQ. Question answered by Pete Sidgwick

What can a personal Budget be spent on in Northamptonshire? • Things that meet the person’s outcomes and keep them safe and well. This could be support or equipment or activities for example. Question answered by David Watts

Who pays for the costs of employing and insuring personal assistants ? • Some costs such as advertising for a personal assistant and getting them police checked are paid for by the council. The costs of insurance comes out of the personal budget as part of having a PA. Question answered by David Watts

How can people move from a Direct Payment to a Personal Budget? • A Personal Budget is where a customer has been told how much money Social Services is spending on them. During the normal process of people being assessed and reviewed people should be told this. People who currently have a Direct Payment are counted as having a Personal Budget. Question answered by Pete Sidgwick

How will we ensure that anyone providing support to a customer with a personal budget provides good quality support and has the right skills and experience? • The person and their circle can choose the right worker asking for what skills they need and want. Some people prefer to have someone they know and trust. There is help with finding the right person from Shaw Trust Question answered by David Watts

Who is there to help people with person centred planning? • The PCP facilitators can do this Question answered by Elaine Cummins

Will personalisation mean the closure of in house services and the loss of skilled council staff? • All services will have to change to provide what people want. If people don’t want to use services then some may have to change or close. We still see some people wanting to use in house services at the moment Question answered by David Watts

How can we make sure that there is choice of support for the personal budget to purchase? • Commissioning are trying to make sure there is choice by working with people who run services to tell them what people want to buy. They have market place events so people know what they can buy Question answered by Locality TM

If an individual is on benefits how does this affect the personal budget and vice versa? • A personal budget is not a wage so has no effect on benefits. We will look at a persons benefits to see what contribution they will have to pay the council for services Question answered by Pete Sidgwick

What happens if the Personal Budget is insufficient during the year? • If a person needs change in the year we look at the personal budget again. The support plan will have a budget plan to make sure there is enough money to pay for the support that the person wants to buy Question answered by Locality TM

Is personalisation working for people with learning disabilities? • Personalisation is not just about personal budgets. It is all the work on having a job, having a home and being involved. This is what people tell us is important to them Question answered by Locality TM

What happens if someone does not have capacity to manage a personal budget themselves? • A family member or friend can manage the budget or an organisation can manage it for them. In Northants this is the Centres for Independent Living (CIL) Question answered by Locality TM

There are some places that can't get enough staff to work in social care, how will this change with personal budgets? • People will be looking for different workers with different skills to be Personal Assistants or can employ people that they know. This may mean that new people come into social care Question answered by Pete Sidgwick

Personalisation