We have seen a lot of major changes in the way Social Care work and Local Authorities have now moved away from what was Direct Payments to Personal Budgets. This move to Personal Budgets means that disabled people are being given more control over how to meet their social care needs than ever before.
One of these changes includes the way you can access support to help you with all of the things Disability Direct have been providing expert advice on. In the past the Local Authority would pay Disability Direct to provide free support to disabled people. Now the Local Authority will be paying you directly and you can then spend this money on getting the support that you need.
Day to day, we help people with Support Planning and exploring ideas, helping people To complete their monitoring forms for Social Services, all aspects of managing a Personal Budget including: The Recruitment of PA’s, Employers Risks and Responsibilities, Helping settle Employer/Employee disputes and much much more!
It’s your choice!
Either the council can pay:
- You – directly into your bank account
- A “Trust” – A group of people you trust who have agreed to help you manage and spend your budget on a day-to-day basis.
- 3rd Party – An external agency such as DD Payroll Services will hold your budget for you and wait for your instruction on who to pay for the social care service you receive or any other payments for things such as mileage or aids and equipment that have been agreed you can purchase.
- An Individual Service Fund – You can choose to have your budget paid directly to your provider. Speak to your Care Manager or give us a ring a Disability Direct for more information on this.
- A virtual budget – Derby City Council will make the payments on your behalf to day centres, agencies etc. You will not be able to employ your own PA if they take control of the funds.
The indicative budget allows individuals to create a Support Plan that will deliver the outcomes to best meet their identified assessed needs.
The indicative budget is used only as a guide. A final Personal Budget amount may be set higher or lower than this amount, depending on how a support plan shows the person’s needs can be met.

CONTACT THE TEAM
CONTACT THE TEAM
Raj Johal
Blue Sky Brokers
Email : raj.johal@blueskybrokers.org
General Email : info@blueskybrokers.org
Tel : 01332 404040 option 3