solved

tronlegacy

Hi all, my son has had a financial assessment done by social work to see if he has to contribute towards the day services he uses.
He has been told that he has to pay £22 a week towards this.
He receives income related ESA and high rate dla care and high rate mobility.
He has severe cerebral palsy and is totally dependent on others for everything. We are in the process of getting financial guardianship(already have the welfare guardianship) so as we dont have it yet,we dont recieve direct payments,the social work holds his budget and pays his day service from it.

I asked if the £22 could not be taken from his budget and was told that this might not be possible,however from the councils own factsheet it states that if you receive a direct payment then the money would be deducted before it reached the bank.
So if we ARE told its not possible to deduct from budget then i dont think this is a fair system and just wondered if anyone had any advice on what,if any,action could be taken.

sorry if this post is confusing:o im hopeless at explaining things.

DomRavioli

As I have read it (may be completely wrong!) but you aren't getting DP yet, the council look after the budget, so other rules may come into play.

Best thing to do is wait until you have an actual answer from the council, and see what they say about options, then we could suggest something.

Until you have an answer, there's no point saying it is or isn't unfair, as you don't know what will or won't happen. Just sit tight and try not to jump the gun.

tronlegacy

DomRavioli you are correct,we do not receive direct payments and it may take up to a year for us to get financial guardianship:(
Just had confirmation that it wont be taken from his budget,it will be cash out his pocket.
Maybe its just me but i think its unfair that they can take contributions off a budget that goes through direct payments but not when the social hold onto the budget.
We were allocated a carers budget which we asked to be added to my sons budget but im now wondering if we could have this done as a direct payment and they could take it from that?(thinking out loud.lol)
Any thoughts or advice?

nannytone_2

why shhouldnt he contribute towards the cost of the services he receives?

i get direct payments and have to contribute 60% of my DLA care towards it every month.
the don't reduce the mount to allow for my contribution though. they pay the full amount into the account aaqnd invoice me for my contribution every 4 weeks.
as far as i am aware it wouldn't be allowed for me to use the councils money to pay my part od the cost for the services i use.
after all, that wouldn't be co funding would it?
it would be the council paying the full cost

tronlegacy

nannytone,thank you for your thoughts on this matter:)

I am not saying he shouldnt contribute BUT our council clearly state that if you receive direct payments then the contribution is deducted from that so why should it be different for him just because he does not receive the money into a bank account.

Each council policy is obviously different.

faerielight

I pay £20 a week for my care.. I tried to get it overturned but to no avail

beckstar1975

I think you are missing the point, it's the fact they have to be paid the money to then pay £22 back, rather than just be paid £22 less.

I agree it sucks but can't see there's a way around it for now

tronlegacy

Thank you all for your comments:)

faerielight im not trying to get the cost overturned as im not disputing the fact that he has to pay.

beckstar1975 has grasped what i was trying to say.Its the way its to be paid that i have a problem with.

I should maybe have mentioned that we are in Scotland as in nannytones comments i see mention of co-funding,i have never heard of this.

This is all new to us as my son has just turned 18 this year.I am going to make a few phonecalls on monday and see if i can get anymore info. Thank you all:):)

nannytone_2

i dont understand what difference it would make.
you would rather pay a portion of the cost too the care provider, rather than the council paying it in full and then invoicing you for your contribution?.

would make life easier for the council, but more stressful ( and costly) for the care provider if they have to bill the council and you every mopnth

tronlegacy

At the moment the day service bills the council as we dont get direct payments. We have to pay the contribution to the council NOT to the day service.
Someone who receives direct payment has the contribution deducted from their direct payment. So basically they are having there budget reduced for the contribution but my son has to pay cash.
I really am not explaining this well at all

nannytone_2

as i said previously ...

i dont understand the issue.
you either pay the council or the service provider.
what is it that you have an issue with?

you can't use the direct payments to make your sons contribution, as that would mean that he isn't contributing at all.
the reason behind co funding is that the council doesn't have to meet the full cost of services.