This information sheet is for people who want to arrange their own support using a Direct Payment or Individual Budget.   This may involve making arrangements with an agency or employing your own staff.

Direct Payments and Individual Budgets are not a replacement of income and therefore do not affect any Benefits.

You can have your Direct Payment or Individual Budget paid to you or you can ask for it to be paid to someone else on your behalf.

Using Agencies

You can ask your Care Manager for a list of agencies that have a contract with Social Services.   Most of them have agreed to charge Direct Payment and Individual Budget users at Social Services rates, which may be different from the rate they use for private clients.  This is something you should check with them when you are making your arrangements.

You do not have to use an agency that has a contract with Social Services.  However, we recommend that you check that any agency you use is registered with the Commission for Social Care Inspection

(Tel:  0845 015 0120     Website:  www.csci.org.uk)

Employing Personal Assistants

If you are employing personal assistants (PA’s), you need to make sure that you are abiding by employment law.  You need to decide how you will do things like:

• recruiting staff
• paying salaries and taxes on salaries
• paying employer and public liability insurance
• giving employment contracts
• provide training for your staff

This is a quite a complex area and we strongly recommend that you get specialist advice.

Please ask for the leaflet 'Employment Support Services for Direct Payment and Indiviual Budget Users?'

You can either advertise for PA’s or they can be someone who you know like a friend, relative or neighbour.    However, they can’t be your partner (married, unmarried or in a civil partnership) or an immediate family member (parent, parent-in-law, aunt, uncle, grandparent, son, daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, step son or daughter, brother, sister or the spouse or partner of any of the above) if that person also lives with you (unless Social Services agrees that there are exceptional circumstances).

We recommend that you take up Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks and references for staff you want to employ.  Social Services may require the take up of CRB checks in some cases (Tel: 0870 90 90 811.  website: www.crb.org.uk)

The Shaw Trust

Bath & North East Somerset has a contract with the Shaw Trust to provide a Support Service to service users who want to arrange their own support and assistance.

If you use the Support Service, an advisor will visit you at home.  They can provide assistance with recruiting staff and advice about being an employer, budgeting, training and administration.  They can also provide things like blank employment contracts and timesheets that you can use.   Once you have employed your PA’s, the Support Service has a helpline that you can ring during working hours.

If you are receiving an Individual Budget of over £210/week, Social Services will charge £500/year for this service which will be taken out of your Budget.

If you are receiving a Direct Payment, Social Services will not charge for this service.

The Shaw Trust can also run your payroll on your behalf.  They make an additional charge for this service, which you can pay for out of your Individual Budget or Direct Payment.  Other payroll providers are listed in the leaflet Employment Support Services for Direct Payment and Individual Budget users

Rates of pay

When you are working out the cost of employing PA’s, you need to allow both for the wages you will pay (including any tax and National Insurance) and for extra costs that you will have as an Employer.  Employers’ costs are things like Employers’ National Insurance Contributions (NICs), holiday pay, Bank Holidays, Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and administration costs (advertising, insurance, phone calls, Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks, training, payroll, stationery, contingency etc).   

As a rule of thumb, you should allow 30% on top of your PA wages to cover Employers’ costs.  For example, if you are paying your PA £7.50/hour, the total cost of employing them (including Employers’ costs) can be worked out like this:                                                                                     

Personal Assistant  wage                                      =               £7.50/hour

Plus 30% for Employers’ costs      30% X £7.50  =             £2.25/hour

Total hourly cost of employing PA                        =                £9.75/hour

You can ask your Care Manager or the Shaw Trust for the recommended rates you should use for different times of day and different types of work.   These rates are only guidelines.  You can work out your own provided that they comply with employment legislation.

Other services and sources of information

If you do not want to use the Shaw Trust, you should still get specialist employment advice and you are likely to need a payroll provider.   You should ask you Care Manager for the leaflet Employment Support Services for Direct Payment and Individual Budget users.