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PART 2: GUIDANCE ON LOCAL DIRECT PAYMENTS SCHEMES
Purpose of part 2
21. Part 2 of the guidance describes how to set up simple and effective direct payments schemes, and is principally directed at local authority staff. It is divided into 10 sections.
22. Direct payments for self-directed care aim to assist people to live more independently and so achieve a better quality of life. They are the care and support part of an independent living philosophy developed by the disability movement that is about reducing or removing the physical, organisational or attitudinal barriers that people may experience in the world around them, according to the 'social model of disability'.
23. The 'social model of disability' 1 encourages the view that people accessing support for social care, education, employment and other aspects of their lives, are not thought of as dependent and vulnerable. Instead they should be offered choice and control over support that helps to increase their independence. The services they receive should not simply protect and care for them but facilitate and support them in their individual lives. This will help to prevent social isolation, segregation or stigma because people are able to engage and participate in their communities as active citizens.
24. Independent living is about empowerment of people and their ability to control their own lives, whatever their impairments. It is not the name of a particular service or provision, but the objective of support and provisions for furthering people's human and civil rights. It is the whole range of practical solutions to disabled people's inclusion in mainstream society 2.
25. In terms of direct payments, the philosophy is that day-to-day control of the money and care package passes to the person who has the strongest incentive to ensure that it is spent properly on the necessary services, and who is best placed to judge how to match available resources to needs. This means that the assessment process is about assessing what a person's needs are, and no longer about whether they should be referred to a particular service. It also means that problems with internal budget management procedures may not be used as a reason to refuse or delay the offering or start of a direct payment to a person to whom there is a duty to make a direct payment to meet an assessed need and agreed care plan.
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