How to use your budget

We will agree the amount of your personal budget when we finalise your support plan. You can then use the personal budget to start paying for the support described in your plan. Your social care worker will then agree with you how your personal budget will be paid to you.

You may already know how you want to use the money in your budget. If not, you can take advice from:

• A family member or friend.
• A social care worker; or
• A support service provided by another organisation or person.

What you spend your money on must be:

• Legal - within the law.
• Affordable, within the agreed budget.
• Effective in meeting your social care needs.

We do not give a list of what someone can and cannot spend their money on. The aim of self-directed support is offering people more options and greater control.

Some people use their personal budget to use a personal assistant to help them. It can also be used to buy care, support, or other services from the independent or voluntary sector. You may choose to spend some of your personal budget on other things, such as:

• transport
• services from other organisations or people
• services in your local community

Visit the getting out and about page for more information.

You can use some of your personal budget to pay for transport. You will need to if you have no way of getting to an activity that is essential to meet one of your goals or outcomes. If we are funding transport, we will often make shared arrangements. If this is the case, we will not include funding for transport in your personal budget.

Remember to have a look at the independent living pages to see options that are available to you.

Making payments from abroad

The direct payment cannot be used from outside the UK for more than two weeks in a year without written agreement.

 Things you can't use your budget for

If you spend money is on things not covered by your support plan, we may ask you to pay that money back. You cannot use your personal budget can for:

• Health care.
• General household bills and living costs.
• Residential or nursing home fees unless it’s for short periods of care.
• The wages of certain people such as a close relative who you live with, your spouse, partner or civil partner. This is unless we have agreed to this because of exceptional circumstances.
• Adapting your property.
• Paying for things that do not help to meet the outcomes which are in your support plan. For example, gifts for people who are supporting you.