Direct Payment Support

A person will have a personal budget from Suffolk County Council when they have “eligible", ongoing care and support needs The personal budget money paid into a separate bank account and the person can arrange their care and support themselves. This is called a “Direct Payment”.

For some people the thought of managing the money, arranging things including employing staff and giving updates on what the money has been spent on, can be difficult and off putting. We are asking organisations to express and interest in offering a services to help people manage their Direct Payment.

The Council will not be contracting services that provide customers with support to manage their Direct Payment, but does want to ensure that the support needed is available. Customer would access that support directly with service providers paying for these services from their Direct Payment (that being part of the support plan for customers) or through the use of their own funds.

There are currently in the region of 1500 people in Suffolk who have a direct payment. Many of these people already receive support with their direct payment from a locally based support organisation. Suffolk County Council wishes to promote a situation where any organisation with the right skills, knowledge and systems can offer a choice of services to direct payment customers.