Local Authority Funding

Care needs assessment

You will also need to have a care needs assessment to work out what type of help or support you need with your care, and how you may receive that type of care. The assessment will be provided by the social services department of your local council. Regardless of your income, savings, or whether the local authority think you are eligible, the council must give you a care needs assessment.

Having the assessment gives you or your loved one the opportunity the discuss in detail what type of support you need with a healthcare professional. No matter what level of care you need to receive, the healthcare professional will help you find the right support.

If you or your loved one is being cared by a close relative or family friend as an unpaid carer, they will be able to have a carers assessment, to see whether they can receive any support to continue caring for their loved one.

What will be considered during a care needs assessment?

• Your health, and what you can, can’t, or struggle to do
• Your cultural and religious background and support network
• Your current living arrangements
• How you’d like to be supported
• Information about your needs from your carer, if you want them to be involved in your assessment

What steps do I take to see if I can access funding from my local authority?

There are a series of steps involved in securing social care funding.

• You will need to discuss your care needs with your local GP or health consultant. If you are eligible for funding, you will be recommended to contact the adult services department
• Adult services will arrange an assessment for your care needs and request a GP report to feed into this process
  They will produce a detailed report based on your care and health needs
• A financial assessment (means test) will be undertaken to determine your ability to pay the cost of the care you need. Savings, income and assets are all considered in the process
• Depending upon your means test and how it aligns with social funding thresholds, you will be deemed eligible either for full or part social care funding, or ineligible for any financial assistance from the local authority

Personal budgets and direct payments

If you’re eligible for adult social care funding, you can either ask the local authority to manage your budget and find the suitable care you need, or you can opt to receive a personal budget with direct payments of funds to yourself for you to make your own care arrangements.

A personal budget refers to the overall cost of care and support that your local authority has determined, through means testing, to be available to you. Direct payments are a funding choice in personal budgets, whereby you receive the payment to manage and organise your own care arrangements, whether that is in your own home or from moving into residential care.
Direct payments can be used to pay for care services, equipment or activities that meet your social care needs either from an individual or an organisation.

If you manage your own personal budget, you can choose the provider you wish to receive care from, whereas if the local authority manages it you will be restricted to using a provider from their preferred list.