How to manage a Direct Payment
As a person receiving Direct Payments you have certain responsibilities which include the following:
- Ensuring the support you buy meets your needs
- Fulfilling your obligations to anyone you employ
- Keeping full financial records
- Arranging holiday, sickness and emergency cover
- Informing social services of any change in your circumstances
Managing a Direct Payment may seem a very daunting task, but there is lots of support available to help you. See our 'What support can I have to manage a direct payment' page to find out more. There is also more information available on how to manage a direct payment which can be found on both our further reading and useful contacts pages.
Ensuring the support you buy meets your needs :
It is your duty to make sure you buy services of an acceptable standard, i.e. that meet all your needs. It is important that you attend your assessment and all your reviews to ensure your needs can be fully identified.
Fulfilling your obligations to anyone you employ:
If you employ your own staff you have all the statutory and financial responsibilities of an employer including recruitment, employment, payment of wages, tax and National Insurance contributions, Public Liability Insurance.
You will need to make sure for example that your employees are given good notice of when they are required to work and that they are treated properly while they are working.
You are also responsible for Health and Safety i.e. ensuring a safe working environment and proper working conditions as well as providing appropriate staff training where necessary for example basic handling and hygiene skills.
Keeping full financial records:
In order to show the local Authority that payments are being spent on support to meet your identified needs, you are required to keep financial records for regular audit . You will need to keep appropriate financial records of income and expenditure. Each council has their own auditing procedure but averagely they include:
- Monthly bank statements of your Direct Payment bank account
- Records, invoices and receipts of all Direct Payment money spent
- Time Sheets
- Details of times when your PA is away from work i.e. on holiday or off sick
- Employment records - these are essential for your own information and in case of enquiries from the Inland Revenue. They should be kept for at least six years and should consist of staff details such as name, address, NI number, date employment started and finished, hours worked and payments received PAYE and NI payments to Inland Revenue etc
- An up-to-date certificate of public liability insurance
These must be made available for audit when required.
Arranging holiday, sick and emergency cover:
You should make arrangements for alternative support to be provided for times when your regular PA is unavailable. This is called your contingency plan. If you are unable to organise support to meet your needs please notify social services as soon as possible and ask for help to make alternative service provision.
Informing social services of any change in your circumstances:
This would include any change of address, bank details etc.
Please tell social services if you wish to become responsible for more or fewer Direct Payment responsibilities or service than those mentioned in your care plan. You can ask for a review at any time.
For more information see: What support can I have to manage my direct payment.
