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Personal budgets, best value, charging and financial assessment

In this section

  1. 1
    Introduction
  2. 2
    Promoting wellbeing
  3. 3
    Safeguarding
  4. 4
    Providing information about care and support and supporting involvement
  5. 5
    Prevention and early intervention
  6. 6
    Assessment of needs
  7. 7
    Eligibility decision
  8. 8
    After the eligibility decision
  9. 9
    Personal budgets, best value, charging and financial assessment
  10. 10
    Top ups
  11. 11
    Planning and reviewing care and support arrangements
  12. 12
    Direct payments
  1. 13
    Deferred payment agreements
  2. 14
    Moving between long term care homes
  3. 15
    Protection of property
  4. 16
    Transition to adult care and support
  5. 17
    Social care records
  6. 18
    Emergency Planning
  7. 19
    Concerns and complaints
  8. 20
    Implementing, monitoring and reviewing policy
  9. 21
    Appendix 1 – definition of terms
  10. 22
    Appendix 2 - legal context
  11. 23
    Policy Details

Care and Support Statutory Guidance 

10.27   In determining how to meet needs, the local authority may also take into reasonable consideration its own finances and budgetary position, and must comply with its related public law duties. This includes the importance of ensuring that the funding available to the local authority is sufficient to meet the needs of the entire local population. The local authority may reasonably consider how to balance that requirement with the duty to meet the eligible needs of an individual in determining how an individual’s needs should be met (but not whether those needs are met). However, the local authority should not set arbitrary upper limits on the costs it is willing to pay to meet needs through certain routes – doing so would not deliver an approach that is person-centred or compatible with public law principles. The authority may take decisions on a case-by-case basis which weigh up the total costs of different potential options for meeting needs, and include the cost as a relevant factor in deciding between suitable alternative options for meeting needs. This does not mean choosing the cheapest option; but the one which delivers the outcomes desired for the best value.

9.1   The council has a duty to achieve best value when meeting care and support needs and will take cost effectiveness into account including using low or no cost options when deciding between suitable options for meeting needs. 

9.2   Where the council has agreed to meet an adult’s needs for care and support, we will estimate the cost of meeting needs based on their assessment. This is known as an indicative budget.

9.3   The actual cost of meeting the adult’s needs (their personal budget) will be agreed on a case by case basis. The adult’s personal budget will:

  • be sufficient to meet their needs
  • take into account their reasonable preferences about how they wish their needs to be met
  • be reviewed if their needs or circumstances change

9.4   In most cases, the council will apply means tested charges where it has agreed to meet care and support needs. This offsets some of the cost and helps to keep Adult Social Care services sustainable over the longer term.

9.5   Where the council intends to apply a charge, we will ask the adult to have a financial assessment. This determines the amount they will have to pay towards the total cost of their care and support (their personal budget).  The council will fund any remaining balance. 

9.6   The council will assess adults who do not wish to have a financial assessment (or do not provide the information requested to complete their financial assessment) as able to pay for the full cost of their care and support. 

 

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